


News that Changed Her life Forever

by hell_in_high_heels_xoxo



Category: Alex Kingston - Fandom, kinglet
Genre: F/M, Other
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-06-30
Updated: 2017-07-25
Packaged: 2018-04-06 23:46:50
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 12
Words: 41,300
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4241241
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hell_in_high_heels_xoxo/pseuds/hell_in_high_heels_xoxo
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Okay, this is a whole heap different to ALL other Kinglet fanfictions I've read... Basically, how would you feel if Alex Kington rocked up at your house and told you you were adopted and that she was your birth mum? I'm super nervous about posting it because it is so different and I don't know how people will take it... THIS IS ENTIRELY FICTIONAL. Also, I'm aware the dates don't add up and such but hey, it is fiction. Anyway, please let me know your thoughts. Cause I have nearly a hundred A4 pages written, but if too many people hate this, my nerves will likely end up making me take it down. On the flipside, I'm pretty good at updating, so PLEASE let me know if you like it!!!</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The Surprise that Changed her Life

TV Shows » ER » When She Found Out  
Author: AimeeDanielle97  
Rated: T - English - Family/Drama - Published: 06-24-15 - Updated: 06-24-15 id:11335776

I sigh as I wait for the kettle to boil. Its been a long, hot and extremely boring day. Mum wanted the cleaning done. That included the ironing and cooking. Its forty degrees today, ironing and cooking in a house with an air con that doesn't do anything when the temperature gets above 36 is the most awful thing in the world. Trust me. I throw three tea bags into the pot impatiently, and, almost immediately, the dogs start barking and running to the door.  
"Shut up! Both of you! That's enough! I mean it!" I pick Mckenzie up and shut him and Misha in the cage whilst shouting. "I'm coming!" And "Hold on!" To whoever it is at the door. I unlock the door and swing it open quickly.  
"Oh my God!" I exclaim. Is this even happening? I have to be dreaming, I have to be!  
"Hello." She says.  
"Oh my god." I whisper. I've frozen up. My mind has gone completely blank! Oh my god, what's my name?!  
"Sorry, but, do you mind if I come in? I don't want anyone to get a photo of me here. The press will have a field day and the rest of the world will know more than you before you do.." She explains hurriedly. I can't speak, so I just shuffle over to the side a bit and jerk my head in the direction of 'inside'. The dogs are still going mad. The barking is actually enough to snap me out of it. I swing the door shut and lock it as usual.  
"Um, the kitchen and living room are this way, I've got fresh tea in the pot." I say. I tried to be confident but it came out in a mere whisper.  
"That sounds lovely." So I lead her through to the kitchen and head to the cupboard of mugs. "Um, you don't mind dogs do you?" She shakes her head.  
"No I love them." I let them out. Naturally, Misha just about knocks her over, but, surprisingly enough, she knows how to deal with the two mutts that are attempting to bowl her over. In one swift motion, she picks Mckenzie up and gets Misha off of her, has her sitting at her feet and is happily petting them both. I'm impressed. Even I struggle to do that.  
"Watch out for Mckenzie, the little one. He likes to chew hair and yours... Isn't exactly inconspicuous." She chuckles a little.  
"No it isn't."  
"Um, how do you like your tea?" I ask, again, attempting confidence, and failing. Miserably. Although, how on earth are you supposed to sound confident on the outside when, on the inside, you're screaming "OH DEAR HOLY MOTHER OF GOD ALEX KINGSTON IS IN MY HOUSE! IN AUSTRALIA IN MY HOUSE! THE ALEX KINGSTON AND I'M MAKING HER TEA!" Yeah, confidence is so not gonna happen.  
"Oh, just milk please. And not too much." She says. I nod and pour the tea. I get the milk out of the fridge and unscrew the lid.  
"Say when." I say to her, and begin slowly pouring the milk.  
"When." She says, so I stop, hand her her mug and then sort out my own. Unfortunately, this doesn't take long and I have to make conversation at some point.  
"Uh, lets, um, lets sit in the living area." I say, I still refuse to call it a room. Its not separate to anything. The living room is connected to the dining room, the Kitchen, the main space, the front bedroom and the hall way. Minimal walls in this house, seriously. She follows me over to the couch and we sit. "So, er, what... What can I do for you?" I ask awkwardly.  
"I need to tell you something, rather important..." She begins.  
"Okay..." This is making absolutely no sense.  
"Do you know much about me?" She asks. Do I know much about her? This woman got over twenty four thousand followers on Instagram in three months. Do I know much about her! Is she mad?  
"Is that even a question?" I say without thinking. "Oh my god, I didn't mean to sound so cheeky! I'm so sorry!" I stammer, embarrassed.  
"Thats quite all right." She replies. "So, I think this would be easier if you tell me what you know." I stare at her in disbelief.  
"Everything I know? About you? Are you serious?" She nods. "Okay but all of my knowledge of you is from the internet and that can be rather unreliable..." She nods again.  
"Yes, I'm aware." I nod.  
"Okay then. Obviously I know who you you are... Thats really not difficult to figure out. I know the basics, the bare minimum kind of basics about your family. That you've one daughter, mind you I don't want to attempt to pronounce her name..." She laughs a little. "Um, I know you married... I can't say either of their names either, um, Voldemort and the journalist..." She laughs again. "Um I know that you're mum's German and your Dad's English, and that you speak German. Um, obviously I know about your career. I know you live in LA etc... I know about the difficulties you faced when you were trying to have a child. Um... Do I need to go on?" I ask. She shakes her head.  
"No, thats brilliant. All right, you mentioned my first husband?" I nod.  
"Voldemort?"  
"Yes... Or Ralph." She chuckles.  
"Yeah, I'm a Harry Potter fan. Sorry."  
"No thats quite all right. I feel he was a rather perfect choice for that role." This time I laugh. "Anyway, I'm sure you know how that relationship ended?" She asks.  
"He cheated?" She nods.  
"He did, but, do you know why?" I shake my head. Why is she even here, telling me all of this? It makes no sense at all! "Well, this is where things get complicated. And its a long story so just let me get on with it all right?" I nod.  
"Okay."  
"Towards the end of our first year as a married couple, I fell pregnant. I was absolutely over joyed! I'd always wanted a child. I waited until after the first scan to tell Ralph. I wanted to be sure." I watch a tear escape her eye. "I took the pictures to him. I thought he'd be so pleased!" But she shakes her head, allowing more tears to cascade down her cheeks. "He began yelling, and breaking things, at one point I thought he'd break me. He... He said I could either have an abortion or stay hidden until it was born and give it up. He said I'd have no choice. That he'd make my life a living hell if I didn't. I was so scared of him. At that moment, I shuddered to think what he could and would do if I didn't do what he said. I was heart broken. But still, we went on holiday, a place where we thought no one would really look for us. Scotland. I kept in the house. I got bigger and bigger as the months went by... I was falling in love. But he was persistent, give it up or he'd, in his own words, 'ruin me'." I gulp. I'm really not sure where this is heading. I sip my tea in attempt to calm down. "I gave birth to a beautiful baby girl. She was so gorgeous. The minute I heard her cry my heart shattered. Truly. I named her Amelia, I dressed her, I loved her, I sang to her. And then they came. They took her away and I never saw her again. Ralph took me back to England and that was just the end of it. He cheated because I couldn't bare to look at him. Of course he cheated, I barely uttered a word to him and intimacy was out of the question. We divorced quickly, and, unfortunately life went on. He'd forced a closed adoption though, so there was no hope of finding my baby." I gulp down the rest of my tea and set down the cup. Ms. Kingston is sobbing her heart out on my sofa. But this still makes no sense. Despite that though, this woman in front of me is suffering, so I get up and go pull her into a cuddle, which, I'm glad, she accepts. This would have been so awkward if she hadn't.  
"Sh. Its okay. As hard as it is, that little girl will never know, so she's not angry. You really need to forgive yourself." I say. She shakes her head.  
"Thats just it though, I couldn't bare the thought of her not knowing."  
"You couldn't or you can't." I say, confused at her use of the past tense.  
"I couldn't. Thats why I decided to tell her." She says.  
"I'm really not following this."  
"She was adopted by the Callaghan family in Scotland. Renamed Annie. Please tell me you're following this now?" She begs, still crying.  
"Oh my God." I exclaim, leaping off of the sofa. "No, no, no, theres been a mistake! You don't mean I'm, I'm your daughter?!" She just nods. I slide down the wall onto the floor and sit like that for a few minutes, though it feels like hours, in dead pan silence before eventually looking up at her hopeful face.  
"Do you have a car?" I ask, but it comes out in a mere whisper. She nods. "Well then we're going to the beach. I need to swim." I say. She nods again, without even questioning my strange request, so I get up, head to my room, change quickly, grab a towel and then join her back in the living room.  
"Ready?" She asks.  
"Yeah, lets go." So we do. We get into the car and I direct her to Wanbro beach. After we've set up on the beach, I run, full speed into the crashing waves. They're huge today and the sea is violent. Perfect. I dive down under the first wave, and the next, and the next. I dive under wave after wave, relishing in the feeling of coming into contact with the violent water. I then turn around and decide to catch some. I get the timing perfectly a number of times, lying on top of the waves' curls and moving quickly towards the shore before going back out to do it again. I mentally prepare myself for the coming wave. Its bigger than the rest, but I've had bigger. I begin paddling and duck as it hits. But this one didn't go so well. I feel my head hit the compact sand of the ocean floor and realise I'm sort of tumbling, sort of cartwheeling at a fast pace towards the shore. My head hits the sand multiple times. I can't breath. I can't see. I'm petrified! Suddenly, I feel two strong, and capable arms grabbing my waist and pulling me upwards. I finally break the surface of the water and begin choking and spluttering, and gasping for air. She starts hitting me on the back to help. When I've had enough oxygen to be able to function, she states firmly that we're heading back to the shore. I just nod, its all I can do. She supports my arm as I limp back to shore. When we get there, I sit down and check myself out.  
"Just a sprained ankle." I confirm.  
"Well, I think we'd better get you checked out.."  
"No need, I'm graduating nursing soon. I can recognise a sprain." I say. "You came in to save me." I add, stating the obvious.  
"Yes."  
"Why would you do that?" I ask. Despite having given birth to me, I'm a total stranger to this woman.  
"Because I love you. I always have, I never stopped." She says. I feel tears welling in my eyes.  
"I was scared." I whisper, and start crying. Yeah, thats me. Nineteen years old, and sitting on a beach sobbing because a big bad wave caught me off guard.  
"Its all right." She says soothingly. She then takes me in her arms and cradles me there whilst she rocks back and forth, running a hand over my head. "You're all right." She says. I just sit there and hug her back. I'm so glad of her comfort. She doesn't seem to be letting go anytime soon, so I don't. We sit there for ages, just clinging to one another before I finally pull back.  
"So um, what made you decide to come and tell me?" I ask.  
"I made that decision years ago. But I had to wait until you were over eighteen. To my utter disbelief, my work prevented me from finding you last year, so here I am... I wanted to.." She starts.  
"Wanted to what?" I push her.  
"I wanted to ask if, maybe, you'd like to come back to America with me for a holiday?" She stammers, quickly. I gasp.  
"Seriously?" I ask.  
"Yes. I've longed to get to know you my whole life, I really just want to spend time with you."  
"Well, the uni holidays are..." I smile. "Well, we broke up yesterday for two months, how about that eh! America you say, yes, I could put up with that...!" I say, attempting to be funny. She laughs. Oh my gosh her laugh! What she doesn't know is I've been her biggest fan for as long as I remember. Watching episode after episode and movie after movie just to watch her in it. Her laugh has always enthralled me.  
"Really!" She exclaims.  
"Really."  
"Oh and, Alex?" I say.  
"Yes?"  
"Es tut mir leid für das Erschrecken Sie."  
"You speak German?" She exclaims.  
"A little."  
"Gosh. Oh and its all right."  
"Good."


	2. Leaving Australia

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Okay... Still unsure about posting and what not... But I'll update anyway. Basically, this is the bit before Annie heads out to LA with Alex now and it unfolds from there.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please leave kudos or comments because, not even kidding, I'm so nervous about posting this....

We head back to the house to get dried off. Seeing as Alex jumped in fully clothed to save me, she'll need to borrow something...  
"Here." I say, handing her a towel.  
"Thank you."  
"Thats all right." I also hand her some of mum's clothes to wear before going to get dressed myself.   
"Whats the weather like this time of year where you live?" I ask her.  
"It's quite warm, although, bring some wet weather gear too." She says.  
"All right, better start packing then. She follows me down to my room, I really wasn't expecting that, but I don't say anything. She's waited nineteen years to spend time with me. I open the door and limp, quickly, over to take down the framed drawing I did of her when I was seventeen.  
"Whats that?" She asks.  
"Nothing." I reply, stuffing it inside a drawer. She takes a minute to look around my room. Its painted pale blue, all except for the wardrobe door. Its dark blue. Tardis blue to be specific, and painted to look exactly like the Tardis. She smirks a little.  
"Yeah, I'm a geek." I say.  
"I love it." She replies. I duck under my bed and pull out my suitcase. I place it on my bed and unzip it.  
"Right, shoes first." I say to myself. I head over to my Tardis wardrobe and swing open the door without thinking. I hear Alex gasp from behind me and turn to find her staring, dumbfounded, at the full length poster of River Song that I have, taped to the inside of my wardrobe door.   
"Oh my God I forgot that was there!" I exclaim.   
"You're a fan?" I blush to the colour of beetroot.  
"Have been for years.." I admit to her. To my surprise, she laughs a little.  
"Thats brilliant." She says. I just smile at her and continue on, grabbing multiple pairs of flip flops, pumps, my running shoes, heels and, of course, my converse and Doc Martens.  
"You're taking Doc Martens to LA?"  
"I take my doc martens everywhere." I reply, laughing, though I'm deadly serious.

"Right, I think thats everything." I say, sitting on the bed next to my bulging suitcase.  
"Yes I think so." I hear Alex say, her voice sounds funny, so I look up at her. Oh, right. She's crying again. I feel terrible for her.  
"Oh don't cry." I say, taking her hand. "I'm coming. We'll get to know one another. We can make this work you know." I say.  
"Oh sweetheart, I know. But I'll never forgive myself for giving you up in the first place." She says, letting a sob escape her chest.  
"Hey! I don't want to hear you say that. It was not your fault. I am in no way angry at you for that and I never will be okay! Lets just get to know each other, hey. And lets enjoy it. We've got heaps of time you know." I say. She nods and wipes her eyes.  
"I know." At that moment my phone buzzes and states "Hello Sweetie!" In River's voice. I face palm.  
"I forgot about that too." Alex starts laughing.  
"River flirting with the doctor is your text tone?" She says sarcastically. I just nod, blushing again. "Thats gold." At least she's not upset anymore.  
"It doesn't end there..." I say. I pick up my phone and she watches me unlock it. She laughs even more when she sees the picture of river that is my lock screen. And then laughs more again when she sees my live, three D tardis wall paper. I open the text message.  
"Its my mum." I say, then immediately apologise. "Sorry, my adoptive mum." I say, rectifying the situation.  
"No, don't apologise. She's your mum. I know that."   
"Sorry." Unfortunately, my mum is more impatient that you'd imagine and she phone's me. The theme song for the eleventh doctor plays. This time Alex stares at me sarcastically,  
"You're such a whovian!" She says.  
"I know." I answer mums call then. "Hello?"  
"Hi, Annie I'm on my way home, make the tea." I just make out.   
"Hang on mum, you're dead quiet I'm putting you on loudspeaker." So I do. "There."  
"Make the tea I said."  
"Its made, oh and mum?" I say.  
"Yes?"  
"We have a guest..." I tell her.  
"Who's there?" She asks.  
"Alex Kingston." I say.  
"Okay Annie, this obsession is starting to get too weird. You've got to stop it. I'm deadly serious. No more ER or Doctor Who this week." She says.  
"Mum I'm being serious. Alex tell her." I say to Alex.  
"Um.. Hello?" Alex says awkwardly.   
"Penny in the air..." I mutter.  
"Oh my God." I hear mum say.  
"And the penny drops." I say, Alex laughs at me.  
"I'll be in in two minutes." Mum says and hangs up.   
"Real barrel of laughs this one is." I say.  
"She seems nice." Alex says.  
"Yeah, you don't know her yet, trust me." I reply, causing her to laugh. "Right, I better pour her a cup of tea."  
"Yes, you'd better." So we walk back through to the kitchen and I do exactly that. Just as I'm adding the milk, mum walks in the door.  
"Hey mum, how was your day?" I ask.   
"Hectic. I had 45 patients to see today." She replies.  
"Yikes, here, there's your tea. I'll make you something to eat. Oh and, this is, obviously, Alex. Alex this is my mum." I say. Mum and Alex shake hands, mum looks somewhere between confused and totally dumbfounded.  
"Um.. Hello. " she says.  
"Hi."  
"I don't want to sound rude, but um, what on earth are you doing here?" Mum asks Alex.  
"No hold on, I've got a question for you first mum. How come you never told me I was adopted?" She gasps.  
"How do you know about that?" She says.  
"Because Alex is my birth mother." Alex takes out a piece of paper and hands it to mum.   
"Thats her birth certificate." She says. She then produces more papers. "And those are the adoption papers and a photo of her and I."  
"Right, so what are you doing here?" Mum persists.  
"She came to get me. We're going on holiday." I say.  
"No you're not."  
"I'm nineteen mum, you can't stop me. Alex, when is the flight?" I ask.  
"First thing tomorrow morning."  
"Cool." I reply.  
"You get on that flight and you are no longer a member of this family." Mum spits.  
"You lied to my for nineteen years. Families don't do that. I'm getting on that plane." I reply.   
"Well, get out of my house."  
"Fine. I'm going to get my things!" I shout and storm down to my room. I grab another bag and throw all of my electronics, my teddies, my photo's, my jewellery etc. into it, grab my suitcase and head back to the living room. I place the bags down and hug the dogs.  
"I love you two so, so, so much. I love you's." I kiss them on their noses a hundred times before looking up at Alex.   
"Can I stay with you tonight?" I ask her. She nods nervously.  
"Goodbye mum." I say and stalk out the front door, bags in hand and closely followed by Alex. She opens her car and helps me get my bags into the boot.   
"I'm so sorry." She says to me.  
"For what?" I ask her.  
"Ruining your relationship with your mum." She says, quietly, as we get into the car.  
"I promise, that relationship was well and in truly over long before you showed up. Trust me." I say. "Erm, could we swing by the school so that I can say goodbye to my brother and sister? They study there until half past five everyday." I say.  
"Of course, just tell me where I'm headed." She says, smiling at me.   
"Okay, go out of the street and turn left. Then its right at the round about." I say. She nods.  
"So um, whats your life like?" I ask her.  
"Its good. I have Salomé, the two of us live in Los Angeles. Of course, her father and I are divorced, but the relationship is civil. I have long periods when she's with me and long periods when she's at her dads, and, because of my career, it works." She says. I nod.  
"Does she... Um, does she know about me?" I ask, very nervously.  
"She knows about you. She's extremely excited to meet you. She's always wanted a big sister." She says.  
"Thank god." I say. "Oh I never meant to say that out loud." Alex laughs.  
"Stop worrying. You've nothing to worry about."  
"Thanks, I'll try. Left at these lights."  
"So, you're a student nurse?" She asks. "Do you like it?"  
"I love it. Its the only thing I've wanted to do since I was 14. I mean, of course, being a typical teenager, the words "actor" and "singer" were always at the back of my mind, but you have to be realistic. So I was, and soon I'll be a nurse. Although, I bet that sounds silly to you, that wanting to act or sing is entirely unrealistic and pretty much impossible." I say. "Straight through these lights."  
"Well, it is difficult, but its not impossible. But I understand what you're saying."   
"I went to stage school. I've been in countless amounts of musicals and plays growing up. But, for me, that's where it ends." I reply. "Right at these ones."  
"I understand." I nod.  
"Take a left at the next turning. And then its straight for a while." She nods in response. Silence falls in the car until the school oval comes into sight. "Left here, and then its a right turn into the car park." She nods and follows the instruction.  
"Können Sie bitte mit mir kommen?" I ask her.  
"Wenn Sie wollen." She replies.  
"I'd like that a lot. I'm gonna need the support, this will be emotional." I say, as we get out of the car. She nods.   
"I'm here." She replies. We lock the car and I lead her under the arch, down by the avenue and into the school library.  
"Hey Ann!" Miss Hill says, enveloping me in a cuddle. I immediately hug her back.  
"Hey Miss! I've missed you!"  
"You two princess." She replies.  
"Hey, miss, this is Alex. Um, Alex is my birth mum." I say. Miss Hill looks dumbfounded. "Alex, this is Miss Hill, she was my favourite teacher for the five years I spent here." I say. Miss Hill shakes Alex's hand.  
"Judy Hill." Says miss Hill.  
"Alex Kingston." Replies Alex.  
"Miss, tell me you know who this is?" I ask, but she just looks confused. "Aye, aye, aye. Miss, you have no life." I say.  
"Actually miss whovian, I think the one with no life is you." Alex says, making us all laugh.  
"Probably. Right, I'm off to find my brother and sister."   
"They're in the orange room." Miss Hill says.  
"Thanks miss." I go to turn away. "Oh and miss, go and google Alex Kingston."  
"Will do." I hug her again quickly.  
"I'm heading to LA tomorrow, don't know when I'll be back. See you when I am though miss. Love you." I say.  
"Love you too angel face." She replies. I begin towards the orange room with mum. "Oh, and, have fun." She shouts.   
"Will do, thanks miss."  
"You have a very close relationship with your teacher." Alex says, sounding surprised.  
"You don't know the half of it." I reply, laughing. "Um, warning. They're both Whovians and they're fans. Good luck." I say, swinging open the door to the orange room.  
"Okay.." She replies.  
"Lauren, James?" I say, they both look up to me.  
"Hi Annie." They reply in unison. Then I watch as their eyes find Alex and they both go insane. All that can be heard in the library is a chorus of "oh my god its Alex Kingston's" and "how can you be here?'s" etcetera etcetera.   
"Guys, weist." I shout. "Right. Alex is my birth mum." I say. They look at me as though I'm stupid.  
"Annie, don't be silly."  
"I'm not being silly. I've come to say goodbye. I'm going to LA with Alex in the morning and I don't know when I'll be back. Also, mum's kicked me out so its a proper goodbye."  
"Annie this isn't funny." Lauren says. At this point, I burst into tears.  
"I'm not joking." I reply. The next half hour involves the three of us bawling our eyes out, expressing our confusion and disbelief and us all saying proper heart felt goodbyes and promises of skype. Eventually, we say our last goodbyes, Alex even hugs them, and then her and I leave the room and shut the door. I wipe my eyes harshly.   
"Right. Lets go." I say. She can obviously see how much pain I'm in right now, and she takes my hand to offer support. "Thanks." I say.  
"Don't mention it." She replies. We leave the library and as we're walking out, block two catches my eye.  
"Oh, um Alex?" I say, nervously.  
"Yes?" She replies.  
"I know I'm being a total pain and you're probably totally not in the mood so really I'm being utterly unfair..." I begin.  
"Annie its all right, what is it?" She asks. I smile weakly.  
"There's this teacher... Miss Andrews. She's only like the worlds biggest whovian and, seeing as you met Miss Hill, and my brother and sister. Word that you've been here will get out fast. Gossip at this school spreads like wild fire... I just think she'd be gutted if I didn't introduce you... Would you mind awfully?" I stammer.  
"Of course not. Lets go meet her." Alex says smiling.  
"Thank you." I say, breathing a sigh of relief.   
"Is she a bigger whovian than you?" She asks me.  
"Just wait until you see her classroom."

*

The drive back to Alex's hotel in Perth was peaceful. We didn't talk all that much and it was nice. The hotel is lovely. Alex and I are just heading to dinner. I'm a bit excited actually.   
"Are you ready?" She says, coming out of the bedroom. Yes, there is only one room with one double bed, she didn't expect to have to put me up for the night. I'm sleeping on the sofa in the sort of living area.   
"I'm ready." I reply.  
"Right then, lets go." So we do. I don't know many restaurants in Perth, so we're just going to the dome cafe. Its two minutes away from the hotel and we're seated quickly. We decide what we're having and Alex heads to the till to order and pay before joining me again.  
"So," she says. "You're a beautiful looking girl. Any men in your life?" She asks me, causing my cheeks to flush pink.  
"Well, yes actually, but its a long distance." I reply.  
"How long?" She asks.  
"He's in Germany. His name is Markus, he has good English though." I reply.  
"Well how did you meet him?"   
"When I was self teaching German, I got a bit stuck. So I found a language exchange website where people who speak the language message you and you can talk in that language to consolidate your learning. Markus replied to my plea for help with German." I smile to myself thinking about it. "We talked non-stop from there and he asked if we could try a long distance. I went over there last year to see him. I stayed with him and his family for the month. A whole month of just speaking German. Lets just say it really helped me with it." I laugh. "But all good things come to an end. I had to come back to Australia."  
"Wow. Thats quite the difficult situation. How long have you been together?" She asks.  
"Almost two and half years. I love him dearly. It is difficult, but we cope with skype and email. Its working." I say.  
"Well thats good." She reply's.  
"Well, I suppose I'd better explain about the teachers." I say.  
"You don't have to."  
"No, nothing about me will make sense if I don't." I reply.  
"Okay..."  
"My dad's cousin, Aunt Mary, was a police officer. She had depression. Severe depression. She turned to alcohol and soon became alcoholic. Anyway, she and her dad, had a fight about it. Unfortunately, the fight was never resolved before her dad, very suddenly, died of a massive heart attack. Eight weeks later, Aunt Mary hung herself. Now, Miss Hill and I had always been close. We used to play hanging with friends all the time. I was able to message her using that app and she was literally there for me through everything. Aunt Mary died on a school night, so mum warned the school that we'd be out of it for a few days. The staff were told at the morning brief. I remember going to PC that day. Homeroom, PC is home room. And miss Hill was there. When she saw me, she just opened her arms to me. I flung myself at her and cried. I hadn't cried yet, I always sucked it up when our family were sad. I always forced myself not to cry so that at least one of us was being strong for the rest. But her hugging me felt like she was holding me together, so falling to pieces was acceptable. Someone else was there to pick them up. That made our relationship even closer. Naturally, Mary's death left mum and dad totally distraught for months. And they always took it out on me. It was the beginning of the end really. I thought I was worthless. She told me I was. Multiple times. I started self harming. We went to the beach yesterday, you must have seen the scars on my legs and hips. I'm not going to pretend you didn't." I say. At that moment, the food comes, but I ignore it and go on. "A couple of months more, I had stopped sleeping. I was sleeping an average of two hours a week. One of the kids in literature asked me if I was okay one morning. My response was to burst into tears and wail 'no, I haven't slept for five days'. Then I ended up talking to the head of year, my new pc teacher, miss Lang and the deputy until one of them wizened up and went to get miss Hill. And the whole story came out. The fighting, the self harm, the sleeping. I even told her about taking weight loss tablets and that I was only eating dinners, nothing else, and that, even then, I was telling mum and dad I'd eaten at school and hardly touching my dinners. This lie was believable because I studied in the library until half past five every day like you just saw Lauren and James doing. Either way, miss Hill and miss Lang tried their absolute hardest to rectify the situation. I trusted them so much, I could tell them anything and they kept their promises not to tell my mum. They set me up with the school counsellor once a week for the last year and a half of school. I owe my current mental state to them. I really do." I finish. Alex is astounded.  
"Oh." She says.  
"I'm sorry. I really don't want you to feel any differently towards me because of that. Please?" I whisper. She leans over and places her hand on top of mine.  
"I don't. I promise."  
"Thank you." I reply. After that, we make polite conversation throughout the rest of our meals and head back to the hotel.

"You're sure you don't want the bed?" Alex asks me for the millionth time.  
"I'm sure. Honestly its fine. Go get some sleep, I'll see you in the morning." I say. A slight awkwardness falls because I don't know wether to hug her or just get into bed...  
"Goodnight." Thankfully, she rectify's the situation by coming over and hugging me. I hug her back gratefully.  
"Goodnight." I fall asleep, dreaming happily of the trip to LA. But it goes bad very quickly. Mum follows us out there and stops us in the air port she's screaming and shouting that Alex Kidnapped me and that she needs help. Security come running and drag Alex away. I scream for them to stop. I even try to run after them but I can't run fast enough. I keep screaming and screaming but they don't come back. Then, suddenly, I'm shaken back into reality. Literally. I wake to find Alex standing over me, a petrified expression on her face.  
"Annie! You were screaming for me! Are you all right?" She says, sounding extremely worriedly. I'm panting, sweating and shaking. I can feel hot tears hitting my cheeks. My chest is wracking with my sobs. I shake my head vigorously. She wraps her arms around me protectively and hushes me.  
"Its all right. You're all right. It was just a dream." She keeps saying. Bet she didn't expect to be hushing a petrified nineteen year old following a nightmare. This is totally ridiculous. I shouldn't be so worked up over a dream! I nod my head and apologise profusely.  
"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. Really, I'm sorry." I keep muttering.  
"Stop apologising! You've done nothing wrong!" She says.  
"Nineteen years old. Shouldn't be crying over a stupid dream. I'm sorry you have to deal with this."  
"Don't be silly. Its fine. Come on. Come with me." She says. This time I don't even argue. She pulls me through to the bedroom and tells me to sleep in here with her. Exhausted and extremely shaken up, I don't argue. I just get in the bed. She gets in after me and wraps an arm round me again. I feel so safe in her arms its ridiculous. I fall asleep once more, happy and protected.


	3. Los Angeles

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hitting LA to meet Salomé !  
> Please, please, please let me know what you think... I'm not just new to posting Kinglet fanfics, but I'm entirely new to Archive of Our Own and I am so petrified that this story is.... I don't know... Unnacceptable? I'm just super nervous!! Oh well! Thanks for the Kudos!

I'm currently standing in the airport in LA, waiting on Alex buying some bottled water. I am freaking out inside. This is where I meet her family. Also, everyone here knows who she is. We've already been bombarded for autographs and we've only just came through the arrivals gate. The flight was long and uneventful, but it was okay.  
"Right, are you ready?" Alex says from behind me. I turn around and accept the bottle of water she's holding out to me.  
"I'm ready." I reply.   
"Well, lets go." So we grab our bags and head to the car. I am totally enthralled by my surroundings, so I spend the whole car ride staring out of the windows. We arrive at her house around lunch time and help each other empty the car and then head on inside.   
"Wow!" I exclaim, as I set eyes on the house.  
"You like it?" She asks me.  
"I love it!" I reply. She shuts the front door behind me.  
"Right, we should make tea before we attempt to do anything." She says.  
"I second that." So, she leads me through her totally amazing house and into her equally amazing Kitchen.   
"Your house is seriously amazing." I say.  
"Thank you." She puts the kettle on, gets out two mugs and a carton of milk, then, to my horror, she puts the milk in first.  
"Oh no! Oh my god no, you did not just... Oh my god." I say laughing.  
"What?" She says, looking up at me totally confused!  
"You're posh!" I say, mocking her.  
"I am not." She replies.  
"Yes you are! Only posh people put the milk in first!" I say.  
"Thats utter rubbish." She replies. I laugh harder.  
"Oh its not. In the Victorian age, posh peoples' china was so fine that the hot water cracked it, unless they put the milk in first. Peasants didn't have that problem and they put the water in first. You're descendant of posh English people!" I say, falling over I'm laughing so hard.  
"If I knew my making tea was going to amuse you this much, I'd have done it heaps of times by now." She replies, giggling at my totally childish behaviour. Yeah, 19 is just a number.  
"Oh my gosh! I gave my friends hell for putting the milk in first. They're Londoners. And you must have seen saving mr banks ? PL Travers does it too." I haul myself off of the floor and accept the tea she's holding out to me. "It really is such an English thing." I say, making her laugh.  
"You Scottish people are so judgemental!" She says, laughing.   
"Yeah, but we're funny and sarcastic. Its brilliant."  
"Yes, sarcastic is right." She says, laughing sarcastically. She's actually amazing. I'm in shock. I still think I'm going to wake up suddenly and realise its all been a dream. I can't handle it.  
"Shall we get you unpacked?" She asks me.  
"But I still have tea..." I reply, shocked.  
"Yes, you can bring it with you you know." She says, giving a surprised chuckle.  
"Oh. I don't advise that... I'm really clumsy." I reply, staring at the floor and shuffling my feet awkwardly.   
"Well, why don't I carry it upstairs then and set it on your desk, then you can just drink it while where up there and then theres much less chance of any mishaps?" She asks.  
"I'd appreciate that." So I hand her my tea and follow her back to where we've left the cases. I pick up mine, and then follow her upstairs. The second floor of the house is just as amazing as the first.   
"This is your room in here." Alex says. Cool! I have a room in her house already!   
"Wow!" I exclaim as I see it. Its amazing! The walls have been painted a cream colour. I have a pine bed frame and matching bedside tables. The bed sheets are amazing and there are pillows of all different shapes and sizes. "Oh my gosh! This is my room?" I say, quite stupidly. Its massive!  
"Yes. Do you like it?" She asks.  
"Yes! I love it!" I set the cases down on the floor. She laughs.  
"You haven't even seen your closet yet!" She sounds so excited about it. I watch as she almost skips over to the double doors in the corner of the room and swings them open. My jaw drops.   
"Oh My God! Its amazing!" Its the biggest walk in I've ever scene! Its almost like another room! Theres a double sided sofa in the middle of it its so big!   
"You like it?" She says.  
"I absolutely love it! Oh my gosh!" I go over and walk into the wardrobe and am even more surprised to see it already has lots of clothes in it.  
"I've um... Picked up some things over the past few weeks. Of course, I never knew the sizes I'd need, so I just went with the same sizes as Salomé and guessed from there." She says, blushing.  
"Thank you!" I say. Then I completely surprise my self, and probably Alex too, by throwing myself at her and wrapping my arms around her neck. "Thank you so much!" I say.   
"Its all right!" She says, hugging me back. "Really, its all right." I pull away. "Come on, lets get you unpacked." She says. I nod. I don't want to speak because there are tears in my eyes and they're seriously threatening to fall, and I don't want her to see them. I pick up the bag with all of my bits and bobs in them. I set the electrics on the desk. Pull out Hector and Rushka (my teddy's, yeah, I know) and put them on the bed. Alex smiles at them. After them I pull out Daffodil. Its a little dog I've had since birth. Alex gasps when she sees that.   
"What?" I ask her.  
"I gave you that." She says.  
"Really? I've never slept without her." I put her on the bed with the other teddy's. Sad as that is. Anyway. Once that bag is fully unpacked, I slide it underneath the bed and move on to the one with the clothes. Alex and I spend the best part of an hour unpacking and hanging up various bits of clothes, filling up the shoe rack etc. Etc.   
"Gosh, I'm glad thats done." I say, pushing that case underneath the bed with the other one.   
"Me too. Right, I just have to do mine now and then we'll go do something nice." She says.  
"I'll help you." I reply. The next hour is spent unpacking Alex's things,

"Finished." She announces.  
"Fabulous. Your clothes are amazing by the way, like seriously." She laughs. "No I mean it! I love everything!" I say.  
"Thank you. Right, what would you like to do?" She asks.  
"I'm not sure...." I say.  
"Wait, whats the time?" She asks. I check my phone, which I have changed onto American time.   
"Its four O'clock." I reply.  
"Oh, I'm supposed to pick up Salomé at half past four. I'd better get going. Would you like to come?" She asks.  
"Actually, can I wait here?" I asks. "Just because I'd rather meet her properly, rather than in the car." I add.  
"Thats perfectly fine. I'll be back soon. Just make yourself at home." She says, grabbing her hand bag and car keys from her bed.  
"Will do, thanks Alex." I reply.  
"Okay. Back in a minute." She says and rushes out of the house. I head back down the stairs and into the living room. I sit myself down on the sofa. Its cream leather with a large furry throw over. It ties in nicely with the wooden flooring and cream walls. Alex has some seriously good decorating skills. I sit there for a few minutes, but it feels like hours. I guess I'm petrified of meeting Salomé. I mean, if the kid doesn't like me straight up, I'm doomed. This is one seriously important first impression.  
"I need to busy myself." I say out loud. And Alex did say I could make myself at home... So I decide to head to the kitchen and do the one thing I'm actually any good at. Bake. I've absolutely no idea how long Alex is going to be, so I stick with something fairly simple. I know Alex likes citrusy things, because I saw her in A Taste of My Life. So I decide to bake a lemon drizzle cake. I know the recipe off by heart, so I head to the fridge and cupboard and hunt for the ingredients. There's only a couple of things missing, so I decide to find a shop. I've already converted my cash into American dollars, and I've more than enough for some ingredients. At least, I sincerely hope I do. Anyway, I need to look for some spare keys now...

After a while, I've successfully located a set of keys, locked up the house and left. I walk for a while before coming across a convenient little corner shop. After a few minutes of searching, I head to the till with all of the ingredients I need.  
"That'll be 19 dollars miss." The employee says.   
"Um..." I just hand him a twenty. "Sorry is that right? I'm not used to American money..." I say.  
"Clearly. Where you from anyway?" He asks, sorting out my change.  
"Western Australia." I reply.  
"You don't sound Australian." He points out.  
"I grew up in Glasgow. Emigrated to Australia when I was twelve. Now I'm an Aussie citizen, potentially emigrating to LA." I reply.  
"Wow, thats quite the moving history. Well, you have a nice day." He says.  
"You too." I leave the shop and then walk (hopefully in the right direction) back to Alex's house. It takes longer than it did to find the shop, but I get there in the end. I unlock the door and head straight to the kitchen. I spend a few minutes doing tedious things like unpacking the bags, pre-heating the oven, hunting for and greasing the cake tins, finding a set of scales and measuring cups, getting out some cutlery etc. Before long, I'm floating around the kitchen happily, singing to myself and doing what I love. Actually, I feel entirely at home, which is weird.

Almost an hour has passed by the time I hear the front door open. I'm just finishing drying the last of the dishes when I hear,  
"Annie?" Its Alex.  
"I'm coming!" I shout back, dry my hands and head out to find the hall. "Hi." I say, nervously, allowing my eyes to fall on Salome.  
"Hi. Something smells nice." Alex points out.  
"Lemon drizzle cake. Its just out of the oven." I reply.  
"Wow." She says. "Annie, I'd like you to meet Salomé. Salomé, this is Annie." At this point, we both look at each other properly. She's beautiful, I mean, really beautiful. She's stunning.  
"Hi." I say, nervously. She looks slightly unsure of me for a second. Then, she seems to sort of shrug it off and surprise me entirely by throwing her arms around my neck, instantly calming the atmosphere. Actually, I think Alex's sigh of relief was larger than mine.   
"Hey sis!" Salomé exclaims.  
"Hi." I reply.  
"You're really pretty!" She says. "Mom never told me you were pretty." I laugh a little.  
"Probably because I'm really not, but you, jeesh, you're stunning, you know that?" I say, she blushes. "Yeah, you know that." I say, causing all three of us to laugh.  
"Sorry about using the kitchen, I just needed to distract myself." I say to Alex.  
"Don't apologise. The kitchen is there to be used. You never have to ask to use it. Just go for it." She replies, I nod.  
"Thanks."  
"Can we have the cake?" Salomé asks, excitedly.  
"If its cooled." I reply. She beams.  
"Cool!" Then I'm all but dragged through to the kitchen, and she stands watching me whilst I check it out.  
"Yep, its ready." I confirm. "Alex, are you after some?" I say. She smiles.  
"That would be lovely." So I cut us all a piece of the cake and we devour it in seconds.  
"Oh! How did you know this was my favourite!" Alex says, meaning it as a figure of speech, but, before I can help myself, the words,   
"Because of ATOML." escape my mouth.  
"Oh yes." She replies. I curse myself internally.   
"Sorry, I don't mean to keep being so weird..." I say, I lay down my plate and, with that, I leave the room. Why do I have to be such a freak? Gosh. I'm right here, in her house, and I'm her daughter. The life of obsessing and fangirling is over. Why do I have to be weird enough to keep bringing it back? I head into my room and head to where I put my diary on my desk. I sit down on the bed (oh sweet jesus its so comfortable!) and flip it open to a fresh page and begin writing. I get a couple of minutes worth of writing sprawled onto the pages when someone knocks on my door. I just about leap out of my skin! So I slam the book shut, thrust it below my pillow and shout,  
"Come in?" The door swings open and Alex walks in.  
"Hi." She says. Gosh, the sight of her has me blushing right now. Why is my body so against me?  
"Hi."  
"Listen," she says. "I'm not oblivious to the fact that I have fans, egotistic as that sounds. But I am used to it. You're allowed to have fan knowledge about me, its really not that weird. Actually, it gives you a head start on the us getting to know one another thing." She says.  
"I don't want to make things weird." I reply.  
"You're not making them weird, I promise." She says. I nod. "Come on, lets get back downstairs." I nod again and follow her back to the kitchen. There is a slight tension, but, to my utter surprise, Salomé smooths it out by sticking her ipod on the dock and putting on some music.  
"So how old are you?" Salomé asks me.  
"Salomé!" Alex exclaims.  
"What?" She replies. I laugh at them both.  
"Its all right. I'm nineteen, nearly twenty." I reply.  
"Cool." She says.   
"Annie you certainly know how to bake!" Alex says. "That cake was amazing." I shrug.  
"I try." I say. "Um... Alex?" I say nervously.  
"Yes?" She replies, slightly concerned by the nerves in my voice.  
"Could we do something about my name?" I ask. She looks momentarily confused. "I've always hated the name Anniee, its such a childish name, as a child I didn't see how I could be called Annie after I grew up because it was so... juvenile. I have always wanted to change it but I didn't want to offend my um... Parents. I don't care what you call me, just please, not Annie." I stammer quickly. Alex smiles.  
"Of course we can. Any preferences?" She says, smiling.  
"No... You choose." I say. She looks surprised a little, but smiles nonetheless.  
"I did name you Amelia..." She says, but I grin.  
"No thats perfect. We can definitely stick with that." I reply, happily.  
"This is so cool. I have a sister!" Salomé exclaims.   
"Yes, it appears you do." I reply. Robotically, I start filling the sink and collecting the dishes. Alex looks at me in disbelief.  
"What?" I say, adding the dish washing liquid and beginning to wash the dishes.  
"Salomé, take a leaf out of her book will you?" Alex says, sarcastically. We all laugh.  
"Yeah, yeah. Whatever." Salomé replies, equally sarcastically. I finish the dishes happily, just listening to the music and relishing in the sensation of homeliness that seems to just surround me here. Its magical. I leave the dishes on the drainer to drip dry and turn back to Salomé and Alex.  
"Just while we're on the subject of names, what's my surname?" I ask.  
"Well really its just Callaghan." Alex replies, but I shake my head vigorously.   
"No. I refuse. No way." I say.  
"All right, well then, technically its Fiennes, but," she says, looking at my face, "you evidently don't like that either. I suppose we can change it to Kingston, if you'd really like?" She asks.  
"You'd be okay with that?" I ask.  
"Of course." She replies, without even thinking about it.  
"Both of you?" I say, turning to face Salomé.  
"Uh, duh. You're my sister." She says.  
"Okay then. Amelia Kingston. Yeah, that works." I say, smiling.  
"It certainly does. Right. What shall we get up to?" Alex says. Salomé shrugs, but I get an idea.  
"Um... Well, what about the beach?" I suggest.  
"Great idea! Mom can we?" Salomé exclaims.  
"Sure, go and get yourselves ready." She says. So we head up to our rooms, but, to my utter surprise, Salomé only grabs her stuff and waltzes into my room.  
"Are you unpacked?" She asks.  
"Yeah, Alex helped me do it when we arrived." I reply, heading into the massive wardrobe to find a bikini.  
"Cool. Mom's great." She says.  
"Yeah, she really is."  
"So, you're Scottish, thats so cool."  
"Actually I'm Western Australian. But originally, yes, Scottish." I finally find my bikini and slip into it in the privacy of my wardrobe before going back into the bedroom to see Salomé.  
"Wow! You have a belly piercing!" She exclaims.  
"Yes. I've had it since I was fifteen. The top of my ear is done too." I reply.   
"Thats wicked." She says.  
"Alex doesn't have an issue with piercings does she? I can cover it up if she does..." I say.  
"No, she doesn't. She wouldn't want them herself, and I doubt she'd let me have them, but she doesn't mind people having them." She says. I heave a sigh of relief. "Jeesh, you really are a worrier aren't you?" She points out.  
"Yes, I am."  
"How come you call her Alex?" She asks me suddenly.  
"What do you mean?" I reply.  
"Well, she's your mom, but you don't call her mom?" She says.  
"I have only just met her. Give us a chance to get used to each other before I take that step, yeah?" I reply.  
"I get it. Thats cool, just wondered." She says.  
"You ready?" I asks, finishing applying sunscreen.  
"Yeah." She says.  
"Here, do you want the zync?" I ask. Its clear, I use it on my face.  
"You use zync?" She says.  
"Yeah, the sun's really dangerous. I use it on my face, it is clear you know." I say.  
"Trust me, I don't need zync." She replies, laughing.  
"Tell that to skin cancer." I say.  
"Salomé, Australians are incredibly serious about the sun." Alex says from the door way.  
"Really?" She asks.  
"Yes. We really are. We don't have an ozone layer and skin cancer is the leading cause of deaths in Australia. A sun tan is your body trying to protect your skin from sun damage, so it produces specific cells to do so, giving the darker affect. It just takes one bad cell to escape into your blood stream. One tiny little cell! There's nothing good about a tan!" I say.  
"Oh my gosh, mom you weren't kidding, she's paranoid." Salomé says, laughing at me.  
"And so I should be." I say, laughing too, I join them on the opposite side of the bed.  
"Piercings and a tattoo! Gosh you're cool!" Salome exclaims.  
"What tattoo?" Alex says in disbelief.  
"Oh, yeah, the southern cross. Sorry, I forgot about that."  
"Don't apologise, its well cool! Mom she has stars on her foot!" Salomé says.  
"Sister of mine, these aren't just stars. Its the southern cross." I say.  
"Sister of mine? You whovians scare me sometimes." Alex says, laughing.  
"Whats a southern cross?" Salome asks me.  
"Aye, aye, aye child! How much do you know about Australia?" I ask her.  
"There's a lot of beaches and you ride kangaroos."  
"Oh sweet jesus." I say. Meanwhile, Alex is absolutely killing herself laughing.  
"Salomé! Stop talking." She gasps out.  
"Why?" She asks.  
"Because you're digging yourself into a hole. Yes, we have lots of beaches. As for the kangaroos... Oh darling come on, you'd crush them if you tried to ride them. We do not ride kangaroos. And only wild life protectors keep them, they're not pets. The southern cross is a constellation. Its only in Australia. Its the same as the one on the Australian flag."  
"I thought the flag had kangaroos on it?" She says.  
"No, thats the coat of arms."  
"Well, Australia's miles away. Isn't it all desert?" She asks. Alex falls into fits of laughter all over again.  
"No. Oh my god, no. I can't even handle this..." I say.  
"What?" Salomé asks innocently.  
"Just come on, lets get to the beach." Alex says, laughing. I follow her and Salomé downstairs and through to the back of the house.  
"Aren't we going to the beach?" I say.  
"Yes." Alex replies, she then opens the patio doors to reveal that they have a private beach right behind their house.  
"Oh my God!" I exclaim. We all head out onto the patio, down the steps and onto the sand. Its glorious. I absolutely love the feeling of the hot sand on my feet. I turn round to see Alex and Salomé rushing to the cooler, wet sand.  
"How are you doing that?" Salomé shouts to me.  
"Doing what?" I ask.  
"Just standing there on that hot sand?" She says.  
"Eh, guess its really not that hot."  
"It is! The soles of my feet are all red and I ran across it!" She says.  
"Yes, mine are burnt too." Alex adds.  
"Well, mine are used to it. Australians never wear shoes. Its kind of our thing, bare feet is best. I've seen Australians walk over hot, melting tar and not blink. We're used to it." I say. Walking over to join them. I'm only wearing a little bikini, that means my thighs and hips are fully visible. Salomé heads straight to the water to cool her feet, leaving Alex and I standing alone. She traces her hand along my left hip.  
"I'm so sorry." She says. "For everything."  
"Hey, none of those scars are your fault." I reassure her, but it doesn't work.  
"Yes they are."  
"No they're not. Voldemort's fault, not yours. Understand me?" I say, relatively firmly. She goes to speak but doesn't, and just nods. "Good. Now lets go let our hair down." I say, taking her hand and heading to the water. As usual, I just plough on in and dive under. Alex and Salomé, however, tiptoe in, gradually getting deeper and taking ages to get used to the temperature.  
"Okay, you two know that if you get it over with in one plunge, its so much easier?" I say, laughing at them sarcastically.  
"Yeah, but that first plunge is awful." Salomé says.  
"So you've got heat intolerant feet and you're sensitive to cold water. You wouldn't last five minutes in Oz." I say, laughing harder.  
"Probably not." Salomé says.  
"I've been to Sydney." Alex says.  
"Sydney's freezing." I say.   
"It was cool, I would hardly call it freezing."  
"Twelve degree winters. Are you kidding? I almost died. I can't handle a twenty degree winter. And I'm talking celsius." I say.  
"Aw, look at the Australian, completely cold intolerant." Salomé says. I laugh.  
"Well, sweet, sister of mine. Our summers reach forty five degrees. I can't do winter anymore." They both laugh at me.   
"You're a weak Australian."  
"Says the weak British sort of slash American folk." I say, we all end up in fits of giggles. The afternoon ended up being totally amazing, but, it eventually got late and we went to bed. Although, I had to take a drowsy antihistamine to fall asleep. Yep, the eleven hour time difference really has an affect. I dream of the beach with Alex and Salome. Its really brilliant.


	4. TV

I wake up to the sweet smell of pancakes. Quickly, I swing my legs out of the bed and head down to the kitchen.  
"Guten morgen." Alex says.  
"Guten morgen." I reply. She hands me a plate full of pancakes.  
"Breakfast." She confirms, smiling.  
"These are for me?" I ask, stupidly.  
"Yes. Enjoy them." And I really do.  
"Amelia," Salomé says from beside me at the table, "mom and I were just thinking, the press are going to have an absolute field day when they find out about you. Therefore its best to tell them in a controlled environment."  
"Okay." I reply.  
"Yes, Salomé and I were just thinking that, if you'd like, you should come with me to my premier tomorrow night." Alex says.  
"Um, wow. Okay. Is Salomé coming?" I ask.  
"Sure I am. We thought the premier because then everyone gets to see us as a family, all glammed up and looking gorgeous and gloriously happy praising moms movie."  
"Thats a brilliant idea." I say.  
"So you'll come?" Alex asks.  
"Absolutely." I confirm. "Is it formal?" I ask.  
"Black tie." She says.  
"Oh fabulous, I have the perfect dress then!" I exclaim in delight.  
"I don't." Salomé says. As we both put our plates in the sink.  
"Well... I have a ball gown upstairs, I've only worn it once.. At a going away party. Next to no one has seen it... It would look amazing on you, if you'd like to try it on...?" I say.  
"Sure!" She exclaims. The next thing I know, I'm being dragged up to my room by my arm.  
"Wow, Salomé slow down." I say.  
"No I want to see it!" She says.  
"And you will, just give me half a chance." I reply, laughing. "Right, here you are." I say, heading into my wardrobe to get it. I bring it back out into the room and show her. Her face absolutely lights up.  
"You like?" I say, twirling the coat hanger to show her the back of the dress. Is halter neck and completely plain at the front, however, the whole of the back of the dress is encrusted with crystals. It even has a train.  
"Omg I love!" She says.  
"Well, go try it on then you lunatic." I say. She nods excitedly and takes the dress, then just about runs into the cupboard. After a few moments, she walks out wearing the dress. I breathe in sharply at the sight of her.  
"You have to wear that!" I say.  
"Omg I know! This dress is so amazing! Where on earth did you get it?" She says.  
"Jane Norman actually." I reply.  
"Wow really?" She replies.  
"Yeah actually."  
"Its so amazing. Right, I'm off to take it off." She says, and dives back into the cupboard. She emerges a few minutes later again. "Better go tell mom that we don't need to go shopping." She says.  
"Yeah." She links her arm through mine and we head back down to the kitchen to meet Alex.  
"Mom that dress is perfect!" Salomé squeals.  
"Excellent." Alex replies happily. Salomé and I sit back at the table.  
"So how will tomorrow night work?" I ask. "I mean, surely we can't just step out of the car and announce that I'm your daughter." I say.  
"No, we can't really. Actually, I suggest we have a trusted journalist write a rough piece about you that will say who you are and that you'll be joining Salomé and I at the premier." She says.  
"Good plan."  
"Whats the movie about?" I ask.  
"Oh, she won't tell. Its a wonder she's even letting us go to this."  
"I won't tell because its a surprise." She says.  
"Spoilers one oh one." I say sarcastically.  
"Exactly." Alex says. "And you're only aloud to come because we have to, almost, present you. I like keeping our lives as private as possible." She says, I nod.  
"Of course. I completely agree." I say.  
"Although, girls, I must warn you. My character has a death scene." She says.  
"Is it... Bad?" I say.  
"Its graphic. Will you both be okay with that?" She asks. I look around at Salomé, who's nervously looking at me.  
"We can shut our eyes, right?" Salomé says.  
"Yeah, and um, block our ears." I say.  
"Yeah." Salomé adds.  
"Are you both sure?" Alex asks.  
"Yes." We say, nodding.  
"All right." She replies

*

"Amelia?" I hear Salomé say, knocking my bedroom door.  
"Yeah whats up?" I answer. She comes in, looking embarrassed.  
"I need help getting ready. I don't have the first clue what to do with make up, but I don't want to go without any, and I don't know what to do with my hair." She stammers.  
"Aw sweetie don't even fret it, come in and I'll sort you out. I drag my stool up to the edge of the bed. "Sit there and we'll sort your make up first." I say. Before long, I'm happily applying her make up. We go for a minimal look, because she's not really used to wearing make up. A nice liquid foundation, set with mineral powder. Liquid bronzer and highlighter for contouring, a translucent powder to set, some brown eye shadows, winged eyeliner, but not badger eyes, and a tiny bit of mascara. "You look amazing." I say, handing her a mirror.  
"You're really good at make up!" She says, examining herself.  
"Eh, I try." I reply, laughing. "Right, turn around I'll sort out your hair." I say.  
"Okay. You're so lucky you've got mom's hair. Its amazing, you guys hardly have to do anything." She says.  
"Yeah now! You should have seen it while I was growing up." I say. "Hellish doesn't even begin to cover it." I plug in my trusty curling wand and curl Salomé's hair. I then use my diamonte encrusted clip to style it over to one side, leaving the beautiful curls hanging over her slender shoulders and the back of the dress on full display.  
"You look so amazing." I tell her, switching off the curling wand.  
"Yeah, because of you. Where did you learn to do hair and make up like that?" She says, examining herself in the floor length mirror in the corner of my room.  
"Eh, years of practice on myself." I finish my own make up then, and slip into the cupboard to get into my own dress. Its a beautiful, off the shoulder, totally slim fitting white mermaid dress with a black net of intertwining flowers sewn equally slim fittingly over the entire dress. Its a real work of art! It too has a train, although, mine is a lot larger than Salome's. I walk back into the room, spray perfume and put the necessary items into my clutch bag.  
"Oh my god." Salomé says.  
"What?" I say.  
"You look so good! Seriously! You look famous!" She replies.  
"No, I'm just dressed up, there's a serious difference." I say. "So this mornings newspaper announced my appearance tonight, then, this afternoon, the news channel announced it on television. I have no room for error tonight, great." I say.  
"What name did they use?" Salomé asks.  
"Amelia Kingston." I reply. Right, I'm going downstairs to tell Alex we're ready okay?"  
"Okay, I'll be down in a minute, I'm sorting my bag out." She replies.  
"Kay, see you in a moment, sister of mine."  
"You got it sister of mine." She replies. We both laugh and I leave the room. I find Alex in the living room, wearing a dazzling, floor length, black ball gown. It has a flowing neck line and a belt of jewels around the middle.  
"Salomé and I are ready. She's sorting out her clutch, she'll be down in a minute. Do me a favour will you? She's a tad nervous... Make a fuss of her." I say.  
"Yes of course. You look wonderful Amelia." She says.  
"So do you." I reply. At that moment, Salomé walks down the stairs, the train of her dress trailing on the stairs behind her, one hand on the bannister, the other holding her clutch. She looks like a hollywood movie star.  
"Oh Salomé!" I hear Alex breathe out from beside me.  
"You like? Amelia did my hair and make up." She says, proudly.  
"You look amazing! Thank you Amelia." She says.  
"Don't mention it." I say, I'm smiling, but I'm petrified of whats going to happen tonight. After this, the whole world knows, then there's no going back after that.  
"The car is here girls. Ready to go?" Alex says.  
"Yeah." Salomé and I answer simultaneously.  
"Okay, lets get out of here." Before I know it, the three of us are sitting in the limo heading for the premier. Yes, you heard correctly, a whole limo!  
"Ready sister of mine?" Salomé asks.  
"As I'll ever be sister of mine." I reply. Alex rolls her eyes laughing.  
"Whovian freaks." She says. Salomé and I burst into fits of giggles.  
"Says you, sweetie." I say.  
"Don't use my lines against me!" She replies, laughing. "We're here." She says.  
"Um... Can I, um... Can I hold your hand?" I say. "I'm petrified of this." I add.  
"Of course you can, thats no issue. But we have to get out now." She says. I nod and take a deep breath in attempt to suppress the nausea. Salomé exits the limo first, then Alex, and then me. As soon as I'm out, Alex takes my hand. She wraps her fingers around mine instantly and holds me tightly. She's so supportive... At that moment, I'm faced with a tonne of camera's and mic's and screaming fans. Its unreal.  
"Deep breath." Alex whispers in my ear. She then starts confidently walking forward. We keep having to pose for various cameras, and stop to let her sign autographs and what not. Eventually, we make it up to the interviewers.  
"And here we have Alexandra Kingston and her TWO daughters, Salomé and Amelia!" They announce. Alex takes firm hold of my hand again and, smiling, the three of us go over to the interviewers.  
"Wow, so, another daughter! What a surprise!" They say.  
"Yes, well, I'm just glad to have her home with me again." Alex replies.  
"What about you Salomé, are you enjoying having a new sister?" They ask her, questioningly. However, Salomé's a natural at this, apparently.  
"Are you kidding? Of course! Amelia and I are best friends already. She did my hair and make up tonight! She's the best big sister ever!" She says, excitedly.  
"Aw thanks Sal!" I say.  
"That's gorgeous! So, Amelia, you never even knew you were adopted?" They ask.  
"No, I didn't. Alex came as a total surprise, but we're making the most of it. Getting to know each other, its really great. I'm so blessed to have her!" I say, trying to sound as enthusiastic as Salomé.  
"Well thats brilliant! So, Alex, are you excited about the movie?" They ask.  
"Absolutely! This one certainly has its surprises! Its been a long time in the making but its been really worth it! The cast and crew were just fabulous and its been so much fun to make. We're all rather proud of this one!" She says.  
"I bet. And you've got your daughters here to share it with you! Thats beautiful. Well, I wish you and your beautiful daughters all the best! We're all happy your family have been reunited again! We'll see you after the movie!" She says, and with that, we can pass on through and take our seats in the cinema.  
"Breathe Amelia, you did excellently." Alex says.  
"That was... Intense." I say, finally letting go of Alex's hand. I'm sitting in between her and Salomé, I feel very safe sitting next to Alex. She seems to have that effect on me. I feel so protected by her. After a while, everyone is finally seated, and the movie starts. I enter fangirl mode again. Despite that Alex Kingston is sitting right next to me and is, in fact, my mum, I'm fangirling like crazy inside.

About and hour in, things turn sinister, mum's character is in obvious danger. Actually, Alex leans over and whispers,  
"The death scene is coming." In my ear. So, quite instinctively, I reach over and take Salomé's hand. She seems to know whats coming too as she instantly locks her fingers with mine. And Alex definitely didn't lie, its graphic. I mean, there is blood, lots of it. Salomé is first to look away. She gasps in fright and curls into me. I last until Alex's character's scream. Its a scream of agony. Next thing I know, I'm curling over into Salomé, my eyes squeezed shut. We both have a few tears escaping our eyes and we're both shaking. I'm aware of Alex placing a comforting hand on our heads and attempting to console us, but that was horrific. Really, really horrific. The rest of the movie plays out, and Salomé and I get enough confidence to look back at the screen, but our faces are drained of colour and neither one of us can stop shaking. When the credits come on and everyone is clapping, Alex leans over to look at us both.  
"Are you all right?" She asks. Both of us just nod. "I'm sorry girls, I thought you'd have coped..." She says, guiltily.  
"So did we." I reply. Both Salomé and I have tears in our eyes, which Alex can obviously see as she hands us a packet of kleenex. We both take a tissue gratefully and wipe our eyes. The next thing we know, everyone is piling out into the lobby for drinks and such. Its madness. A whole array of people, some I recognise as other celebrities, others I don't, come up to us to congratulate Alex on the movie and to meet me. Its really strange. Like, really, really strange. We're photographed a bit more and then, eventually, free to go home. Sal and I strip out of our dresses in my wardrobe and then head into bed.

"Amelia?" I hear, as I feel myself being shaken awake. "Amelia?" I hear again. I open my eyes to see Salomé standing next to my bed, crying and looking terrified.  
"Sal what is it, whats wrong?" I say, immediately getting up and hugging her.  
"I had a nightmare." She says, crying on my shoulder.  
"Oh sweetheart." I reply. "D'you wanna talk about it?" I ask her softly.  
"I just dreamed about that scene but it was real this time." She says. "I feel really sick now!" She adds.  
"Okay sit down on the bed. I'm gonna go get a glass of water and a bucket just in case okay?" I say. She nods.  
"Okay. Thanks Amelia." She replies. So I head downstairs. I grab the things I need and head back up, but, instead of going straight back to Sal, I swing past Alex's room. I put the glass of water and the bucket down in the hall and knock the door softly. Alex supposedly didn't hear me because nothing happens. So I push the door open and go in.  
"Alex?" I say. I go over and gently give her a shake. "Alex?" I say again. She opens her eyes and looks up at me.  
"Amelia?" She says, worryingly.  
"Alex, Salomé needs you right now." I say. Worry and concern immediately crosses her features.  
"What is it? Whats happened?" She replies, getting up and putting on her house coat.  
"She had a nightmare about that scene. She's in my bed crying her eyes out and she says she's feeling sick. I got her a glass of water and a bucket, they're outside, but she doesn't know I woke you up." I say. Alex nods.  
"All right. I knew this was going to happen." She mutters, guiltily as we head back to Salomé. I pick up the water and the bucket en route.  
"Salomé sweetie, whats the matter?" Alex says as we head into my room.  
"Mommy!" She exclaims. Bursting into full sobs and leaping into Alex's arms. I set down the water and the bucket and slip out of the room. I'm not needed. Alex and Sal need each other right now, no sense in me trespassing. Actually, I know what I need right now. I need to swim. I head downstairs, grab my handbag en route, head out the back and down to the water. I strip off my top and shorts, grab what I need from my hand bag and head into the waves. When the freezing cold water is reaching my chest, I stop and unwrap the small object in my hand.  
"You stupid idiot." I say to myself. "This needs to stop." I continue, but I don't stop. I keep going. I cut my arm lots of times long, deep cuts along the top I keep doing it. Eventually, I head back to shore and return the blade to my hand bag.  
"You're so worthless its ridiculous." I tell myself. Not yet happy with the level of relief, I head back into the ocean and dive under the waves. Over and over again. Letting the salt water sear in the open cuts. I don't stop until I hear Alex's panicked calls of,  
"Amelia! What are you doing? Amelia!" From the shore. I turn to face her. My face is streaked with tears. I can't go talk to her, not like this, so I just shake my head and dive under. But this time I don't come up. I stay under for as long as possible. Right up until my lungs are absolutely screaming for air and then I break the surface, gasping and spluttering. But I dive under again and do exactly the same thing. However, this time its cut short by Alex pulling me above the surface.  
"What are you doing!" She shouts, extremely worried.  
"I needed to get out..." I say, quietly, quite unable to meet her gaze.  
"Get out of what?" She asks, chittering slightly.  
"My head." I whisper.  
"Oh for goodness sakes. Come here." She says, taking me in her arms. I wrap mine around her and burst into tears on her shoulder. "What is it? Whats wrong?" She says.  
"Its just a pretty bad case of M.E." I say.  
"What on earth is M.E?" She asks.  
"Mum envy." I reply. "Obviously not a real thing... But I get so upset. Seeing you with Salomé... It hurts! You have such an amazing bond! I never had that with my mum!" I wail.  
"Oh sweetheart. You should have said." She says, but I shake my head.  
"I couldn't." I tell her. "But I've been upset about it for years. She used to say her job was to be my mum, not my friend, and that if that made her my enemy then so be it. She said she didn't care if I hated her. She hit me when I did stuff wrong. I've never hit her back, but there were times I really didn't deserve it. I've been in trouble before when she's burst my lip from punching me in the face. My lip was fat for a week. She's said awful, awful things. Things like 'I wish you'd never been born' and stuff. But then we'd have periods when we got along. And I used to wish it would stay like that, and that she'd try to get to know me, realise that all I wanted was a hug every now and then. But it never happened. I can't remember the last time she hugged me, or said she loved me when I didn't say it first, or when I said I loved her and she didn't reply with 'shut up'." I wail. "And then I feel so guilty now because she wasn't even my mum! It was you and I never knew that! I wish I had because I'd have run away years ago and tried to find you!" I can hardly breath. I can't believe I'm having the mum break down again. I thought I was over this..."  
"Oh Amelia! I'm here! You have me now! I promise I will always be here!" She says, rocking me in her arms and trailing a hand through my wet hair. I just nod. The cold air is stinging the cuts on my arm, the cuts that, thankfully, Alex hasn't seen. "Now, why don't we go get showered and warmed up and head back to bed?" She says, softly. I nod again. She guides me back to shore, where I pick up my stuff, use it to hide my bleeding arm, and then follow her back into the house. When I finally get back to my room, I wrap a bandage around my arm and slide a tuba-grip up and over my elbow. I then slip back under the covers and fall peacefully to sleep. 

I wake up and head down to the kitchen where Alex and Salomé are. They're eating freshly made French Toast and there's a plate sitting ready for me.  
"What have you done to your arm Amelia?" Salomé asks immediately.  
"Oh, my elbow." I feign it off with a giggle. "Hurt it exercising." I tell her. "Thanks for the French toast." I slip into my seat and start eating. When I finish, I follow Salomé up to the sink and place my plate into it.  
"You're bleeding!" She exclaims. I look down at my forearm and gasp.  
"Excuse me." I say hurriedly, and head straight out of the room. I rip off the tuba-grip and find that I've bled completely through the bandage. "Excellent." I go straight up to my room, shut my door and get my sutcher kit out of my wardrobe. I unscrew the lid off of the local anaesthetic, slide the needle in and fill it. Then, I immediately press the needle into my skin and begin to numb my whole forearm. Unfortunately, this involves multiple jabs from the needle. I then grab the needle and thread, and begin to attempt to sutcher with one hand. Its really difficult.  
"Amelia whats happe-" I hear Alex say.  
"No! Don't come in he-" I shout, but its too late. She comes straight in before I can stop her and she sees my arm.  
"What happened!" She exclaims.  
"Well... I, uh... I mean, I." I stammer. I can't even look at her.  
"Why are you trying to sutcher your own arm?" She says, looking completely aghast.  
"Because I didn't want you to find out." I whisper.  
"That you did this to yourself?" She says. I nod. "Amelia! You can tell me anything!" She says. "Anything! But don't hurt yourself! Especially like this!" She says.  
"Well, you've seen now. How much do you remember from ER?" I ask, attempting to smirk.  
"Next to nothing, and you're certainly not going to ask me to sutcher your arm for you!" She says.  
"I'll talk you through it?" I add, trying to talk her into it.  
"No! We're going to hospital!" She says.  
"We can't! The press will find out and then it will be all over the news. And you! People will think you're an incapable mother! I can see the headlines now, 'British Actress Alex Kingston so Incapable of motherhood that Daughter Self Harms.' Eh no, don't think so." I say.  
"Amelia Kingston you stop that right now!" She shouts. "Don't ever let me hear you let my image prevent you from receiving appropriate health care! Not ever."  
"Alex think about it! Just help me sutcher this and its over." I plead.  
"No. Put on your shoes, we're going to the hospital right now." She says, and with that, she leaves the room. I can't argue with her. I slip my feet into my flip flops, grab a new bandage and head downstairs. "Come on." Alex says. "Salomé we'll be home later okay?"  
"Yeah okay." Salome replies. "Love you mom." She adds.  
"Love you too." Alex replies, then leads me out to the car. I fasten my seatbelt and then open the bandage with my teeth. I wrap it tightly around my arm whilst she drives, its a vain attempt to stop the bleeding. Once its wrapped, I hold it above the level of my heart.  
"Alex I'm sorry." I say.  
"I don't want you to be sorry. I just wish you'd talked to me. I'm your mother you know." She says.  
"I know that, but I don't want to push it too fast and have you hate me." I say quickly.  
"I could never hate you!" She replies quickly. "You're my daughter and I love you!" She says.  
"I know, but you have only known me a short time, I don't want to rush things, make it weird or turn you away." I tell her.  
"But don't you get it? You won't push me away and you won't make it weird! Amelia I want you in my life and I want you to be my daughter! I want to love you! I want to make up the years that we lost!" She says.  
"I want that too." I whisper. "I love you." I say, "I know its early days. But thats a problem I have, I love too quickly, friends, family, relationships. Its who I am. I grasp onto love with everything I have, but its nearly always gotten me hurt."  
"I love you too." She replies. "And I'm not going to hurt you." The car falls silent for a while, eventually, we reach the hospital. Alex parks really far away and we get out of the car. I decide then, in my infinite wisdom, to take her hand as we walk to the entrance to A&E. To my surprise, she immediately clasps her fingers over mine and squeezes my hand quickly for support. I smile at her. We head into A&E and over to the desk.  
"Hi there, what can I do for you?" The woman in triage asks.  
"I need stitches. Lots of them too. I've got a few lacerations on my arm." I tell her.  
"How deep are they? She asks.  
"I've been bleeding since it happened at one am this morning, and they are really quite deep. Definitely need stitches, I numbed them myself ten minutes ago with the local in my sutcher kit, but Alex made me come to the hospital, wouldn't let me sutcher them myself." I say.  
"Yes, you nurses make the worst patients." Alex adds, curing the confusion of the triage nurse as to why I'd have a sutcher kit.  
"You're a nurse?" She asks.  
"Student nurse. I graduate dead soon." I explain. She nods. After taking the necessary details, she asks us to sit down and wait. However, no way Alex is gonna sit in a waiting room, she'll get mobbed.  
"Uh, listen, the press really can't find out we're here. Can we wait somewhere more private?" I ask the nurse.  
"Um, no promises, but I'll see what I can do." She disappears for a while and then comes back. "You can wait in the relatives room, but if we need it you'll need to move." She says.  
"Perfect." So we follow her there, thank her, and watch her leave.  
"There wasn't that many people in front of us." Alex says.  
"No, there wasn't. But you know what a quiet day at a hospital means?" I say. She nods.  
"Mass casuality." She says, smiling.  
"Exactly. Quiet triage is an awful sign." I say. She laughs.  
"Yes."  
"I'm sorry you have to spend your day here." I say, looking down at the floor. Alex smiles up at me  
"Hey," she says, "it doesn't matter, we still get to spend the day together, where we do so is irrelevant." I smile back at her.  
"I'm really glad you see it that way." I say. Then I surprise myself (again) by heading over to her and wrapping my arms around her neck. "Actually, I'm just so glad you came and got me." I tell her.  
She rubs my back soothingly.  
"I'm glad I did as well. You mean the world to me Amelia." She says.  
"You mean the world to me too... Mum." I say. I hear her gasp. "Sorry! Was that too soon?" I ramble, all in a panic.  
"No! No! Its not too soon! I'm so glad to finally hear you say it!" She says. She pulls back and takes my face in her hands. "I've wondered when you would." She admits. "Because I really do love you." She kisses my forehead then.  
"I love you too." I say. Just then, the nurse comes in.  
"Amelia Kingston?" She says. I nod and wipe the tears out of my eyes.  
"Yeah."  
"We're ready for you in the sutcher room now." She says.


	5. The Late Show

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> So, the public knows now... And they meet up with the legend himself (Craig Ferguson). Hope this chapter is acceptable...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey folks, another update. Massive thank you to those of you who have left Kudos!!! Actually meant the world. Please continue to let me know what you think!! Thank you sweeties.

I'm standing making tea in the kitchen. Salomé is at school. Suddenly, the phone rings, Alex gets up from the table to answer it.  
"Hello?" She says. "Oh hello! How are you?" She pauses. "I'm excellent!... Yes what can I do for you?... All of us?.... I'm sure thats fine yes.... Absolutely!.... Oh Craig its been lovely to hear from you. See you tomorrow then!.... Yep, bye." She says.  
"Who was that?" I ask, being totally nosey.  
"Craig Ferguson." She answers. I choke on my tea.  
"Craig ferguson calls your house?" I splutter.   
"Yes. Regularly. He wants us on his show tomorrow night. It'll be your first tv interview. It'll get the public over the 'oh my gosh alex kingston had a secret daughter' craze." I nod.  
"Good plan. I just need a killer outfit and I'm set." I say.  
"Well, if you'd like, you and I can go shopping today?" She suggests. I nod.  
"I'd love that." I reply.

The day is spent with Alex and I raiding shop after shop. Not high street shops like you'd think, but the most amazing little shops I'd never have known to look for without her. I end up choosing this pale blue vintage dress that is slim fitting and nineteen forties style. Its amazing. Alex chooses a black dress that hugs her in all the right places. Hers is absolutely exquisite. We pick Salomé up from school en route home and head in to start the dinner. We've had such an amazing day but I'm never as glad glad to crawl under the covers and fall asleep. 

"Amelia wake up! We're on TV tonight!" I hear Salomé shout.  
"Wow, Sal, calm it! What time is it?"  
"Eight o'clock!" She exclaims. I drop my head back on my pillow and pull the covers up around me again.  
"Thats like the middle of the night!" I exclaim in reply.  
"Oh come on lazy bones! We're on that show at seven o'clock tonight. We need to get ready early!  
"Not eleven hours early!" I reply, sitting up and rubbing my eyes.  
"Come on! Breakfast is already made and everything!" She says. "Mom's made her special pancakes!" She says dragging me to my feet. "Come on!"  
"Okay sister of mine! I'm coming." I say. Getting up slowly and letting her drag me down stairs, unfortunately though, I'm not awake enough to move at her speed, slip on the fourth stair from the bottom and tumble down the floor beneath.  
"Amelia!" Sal exclaims  
"Girls whats happened!" Alex shouts from the kitchen, running through to meet us. I'm in pain but that was absolutely hilarious!  
"Mum! Its fine!" I say, unable to stop laughing. Alex isn't laughing though.  
"It's not fine, what happened?" She questions, again.  
"Amelia fell down four stairs." Salomé explains, equally giggling.  
"Mum come on, its hilarious!" I say, sitting up. I try to stand up but my leg is really hurting. I gasp when I put weight on it and burst out laughing all over again. "Oh no! I'm going on TV and I can hardly walk!" I exclaim, laughing even harder  
"Salomé, go get some ice! This is far from funny. Look at the bruise on your leg!" Alex says, taking my arm and supporting me through to the living room. I sit down on top of the couch and let her examine me from top to bottom.  
"Really mum, I'm fine." I say. "I bruise easily, always have." I tell her, she's so panicked. Well, I mean, I did fall with quite the loud thud, and my leg is throbbing, but Salomé's ice should fix that.   
"Thanks Salomé." Alex says, taking the ice off of her and putting it on my leg. I gasp as she does so because, funny or not, that bruise is really sore. "Sorry sweetheart but its got to be done." She says. "Now would someone like to explain how this happened?" She says, calmly but firmly.  
"I just slipped." I say.  
"With bare feet? People don't just slip with bare feet, especially on wooden stairs." She replies.  
"Well, I was sort of pulling her."   
"Hardly though. I was just half asleep and not really paying attention. Remember I said I was clumsy." I say  
"Right, well, this better not happen again. Can't have anymore casualty's." She says, finally smiling. "How is your leg?" She asks.  
"Really sore, but I'll live." I tell her.   
"All right, well, lets get breakfast then, but keep the ice on that." She says. So I take the ice off of her and hobble through to the kitchen, sit down and use the back of my other leg to hold the ice back on it. Alex hands us our food and we're delighted to eat it. I swear, Salomé and I live in the lap of luxury, I wonder if Salomé realises it.

"Amelia?" Sal says, coming into my room.   
"Yeah, whats up?" I say pinning back my stray curls.   
"Could you possibly do my make up for me, please?" She asks.  
"Of course I can." I reply, dragging the stool over to where my entire make up supply was laid out on the bed. "Same as last time?" I ask her.  
"Yes please." She replies. So I set to work. She looks absolutely amazing (as usual).   
"What are you doing with your hair?" I ask her.  
"I'm not sure..." She replies.  
"Here." I say. I grab out my curling want and soft curl the ends of her hair, giving it a beautiful, shiny bounce, I then brush through it with my fingers making it look entirely natural and stunning. It frames her face perfectly.  
"Thank you Amelia! You're so good at this!" She exclaims, staring at herself in my mirror.  
"Eh, I try." I reply. We then both slip into our dresses, pull on our heels and head through to mums room. Poor things running around the room in a flap, shes wearing her underwear and a house coat, make up half done, jewellery everywhere and her dress lying on her bed.   
"Oh my." Sal says.   
"Mum, sit down." I tell her.  
"I can't I have to find my-" she starts.  
"Sit!" I say. So she does. "Hand me that make up bag Salomé and then find her shoes and figure out what jewellery matches that dress and give her options." I say. I then set to work on her make up, whilst Salomé does everything I asked. Alex sits there somewhat calmly just letting Salomé and I take over. If we weren't running steadily out of time, the situation would be rather comical.  
"You doing anything to your hair?" I ask her.  
"No. Natural works best for these things." She says. "Besides, hair and make up at the studio will do to it what they like." She replies.  
"I totally forgot about hair and make up." I say.  
"Me too, we just sorted it ourselves." Salomé adds.  
"Not an issue, they'll actually be grateful of that. But they have to attack my mane, they have no choice really." She says.  
"All right mum, you're sorted. Are you wearing your dress down there or changing when we get there?" I ask her. Salomé and I opted to wear ours there as we thought it would be easier.  
"I'll change there, my jeans and top are here, thats what I'm wearing down there." She says.  
"Okay, well, don't ruin your make up." I tell her. She sorts herself out, chooses out of Sal's selection of jewellery, puts all of the necessary items into a suit bag and then whisks us all downstairs.  
"All right, the car is here now, are we all sorted?" She asks. Sal and I nod together. "Right, lets go." 

The drive to the studio was short and somewhat uneventful. When we get there, mum is rushed to the dressing rooms and hair and make up. Salomé and I are checked over by hair and make up, but all they do is stick a few extra pins in my mane of curls and then let us be. All in all, it takes them an hour to declare us TV ready and give us the run down of the show. Craig talks to Alex briefly for the pre interview, just explaining what will happen and then, before I know it, the three of us are standing in the wing waiting to be called onto the stage by Craig Ferguson, who, by the way, has not yet been told that I am Scottish, this should be a laugh.  
"Our next guest has starred in a number of amazing TV shows including Britain's favourite show, Doctor Who! Its Alex Kingston Everybody!" There's an insane scream from the audience and the noise of them clapping is mental! Mum gets onto the stage and greets him and sits down. The fans quiet and Craig turns back to them.  
"And, as a very special surprise, Alex is joined by her wonderful daughter, Salomé Haertal everyone!" Theres more clapping and Salome heads out to greet him and sit.  
"However, the biggest surprise of the night, quite possibly Hollywood's biggest surprise of the month, we're also joined by Alex's eldest daughter, Amelia Kingston!" He shouts. I plaster a smile onto my face and walk out to join them apparently, I'm sitting right next to Craig Ferguson. Thats the only seat left. Mum's next to me and then Sal is on the end. I greet him and take my seat. Craig equally runs round to sit in his seat, behind his desk.  
"Hello!" He says. "Alex its wonderful to see you again!" He says.  
"Same to you. Its been a while now." She says.  
"It has! And this time I get to talk to your daughters as well! Lovely to meet you girls!" He says.  
"You too." Salomé and I chorus.  
"Yes, my daughters are here, so lets keep this one suitable you." Alex says, laughing.  
"Aw, no rabbits?" He says. Mum gasps.  
"Especially no rabbits." I find myself giggling at this.  
"I take it you saw that interview?" Craig says to me.  
"Oh yes.." I reply.  
"Oh no." Mum says, blushing.  
"You're Scottish!" Craig exclaims.  
"Yeah, way to go captain obvious." I reply, laughing.  
"You're sarcastic and Scottish! I love it." He says.  
"Yeah, thats the Glaswegian in me." I tell him.  
"So you grew up in Glasgow?" He asks.  
"Well, sort of. I was born in Glasgow, I grew up in Coatbridge." I say.  
"Lovely." He replies.  
"No not really." I say, he laughs a lot.  
"So Salomé, whats it like having a sister?" He asks her.  
"Amazing. We're best friends already." She replies.  
"Aw, isn't that sweet. Alex is so like 'phew, dodged the fighting.'" He says, laughing. Alex laughs too.  
"Yes, something like that." She says.  
"Oh! You know what this is like?"  
"What?" She replies.  
"Doctor who! Amy dodged the whole growing up bit with her kid too!" He says.  
"Only you could compare this to doctor who." I say.  
"Well, I do try." He replies, Alex stares at him sarcastically. "Anyway, so how did this happen then?" He asks. I'd hoped for mums sake that that question would never be asked. Nevertheless, she tells him everything. Including that she came to find me and asked me out to LA with her.  
"Wow, and you're parents were okay with this?" He says.  
"Yeah, mum and dad were so supportive. They thought it would be really good for me to get to know my birth mum." The lie sears my throat but I still sit there and smile.  
"Well isn't that beautiful."  
"Yes, it really is. I'm glad she was at least raised by such a loving family." Alex adds, helping me out.  
"Me too." Craig adds. "That Fiennes did some cruel things to a beautiful family, but at least there was a happy ending and you still lived a happy life." Craig says.  
"Well yeah, its had a happy ending. But only for me. What about mum? I don't intend to forgive Voldemort for taking me away from my mum. For what he did to her. Yes I grew up with a loving family, but not with my mum. No, I didn't know about it, so I didn't suffer, but what about mum? She spent nineteen years away from her baby because of him. I won't ever look past that." I say.  
"No I can't imagine I would either." Craig says.  
"Mind you, we're doing our best. We're a family again now and we're making up for the lost time. The three of us are actually really happy." Alex says.  
"Yeah, its so great having Amelia around. I'm really glad mom went and got her." Salomé adds.  
"I bet you are, and I must point out, you're the most multicultural family I know, English, Scottish and American!" He exclaims. "Thats brilliant.  
"You forgot Australian. I've lived in Australia since I was twelve, I'm an Australian citizen and I consider myself Australian." I say.  
"My gosh." He says.  
"You also forgot the German side as well." Sal adds, making the audience laugh.  
"Wow. That is one multicultural family." He says. "By the way, I noticed earlier and I've been dying to ask you, Amelia, what have you done to that leg?" He asks me. I blush scarlet.   
"Oh that... Gosh I was hoping you wouldn't notice that." I say   
"Not notice that? Thats the biggest bruise I've seen yet." He says, everyone laughs.  
"I fell down the stairs this morning." I say, laughing a little at my own idiocy.  
"How on earth did you manage that?" He says.  
"I'm really clumsy." I tell him.  
"Wow, that is quite the cracker you've given yourself there." He says. "Now, changing the subject again, Alex, that was was an absolutely amazing movie!"  
"You saw it?!" She exclaims.  
"Yes! It was fabulous!" He replies. "Mind you, Amelia and Salomé were caught seemingly hating it." He says.  
"What do you mean?" Alex questions him.   
"You don't know yet? Look at this." He says. He then plays a clip from the 'Hollywood insider'.

"British Actress Alex Kingston was seen attending her movie premier last night with her TWO daughters, Salomé and Amelia. This was an absolutely fabulous film, however, it included a very graphic death scene involving Alex's character. Her two girls were so distraught by the scene that they were seen clinging onto one another for support. Have a look. (An image appears of Sal and I hugging during the scene) Both girls display a tremendous amount of love, being absolutely too petrified of the sight of seeing their mother killed, they cling to one another so tightly, their knuckles are white. If you look, both girls' eyes are squeezed shut, avoiding even accidentally seeing the screen. Kingston can be seen leaning over and attempting to comfort them but the two sisters are focused on seeking comfort from one another. This is a truly beautiful photo that captures the tremendous amount of love felt by these two girls"

The clip finishes. All three of us are astounded.  
"Um.." I say.  
"I never knew people saw that." Sal adds.   
"Neither did I." Alex says.  
"Well, I definitely agree with the presenter, you girls display a remarkable amount of love for each other and for your mum in this picture. It is such a beautiful thing to see."  
"Thank you." Salomé and I chorus.  
"Well, unfortunately, thats all we have time for. Right, three things we can do. Mouth organ, awkward pause or we can throw frisbees at my horse?" He says. I look over at Salomé, she's grinning back at me.  
"Mum?" She says.  
"Up to you girls." She says.   
"Frisbees." Sal and I say in unison.  
"Well that was actually freaky." Craig says. He then hands out frisbees and the show ends with us pelting them at the horse. When the camera's go down, Craig turns to all of us.   
"Great show, girls. Fabulous. Salomé and Amelia, lovely to meet you. Alex, as always, great to see you." He says.  
"You too." Mum replies. At that moment, my phone rings.  
"Markus!" I answer! "Guten abend!" I exclaim into the mobile.  
"Who's that?" I hear Salome ask.  
"Her boyfriend." Alex answers. I walk off to the corner to talk to him properly.  
"Wie geht is dir?" He asks me.  
"Sehr gut!" I reply. "Und du?"   
"gut jetzt, dass ich rede mit dir."  
"Aw! Sie sind so süß!"  
"I need to talk to you properly." He says, in a very German accent.  
"Yes, what about?" I ask him, confused.  
"I want to move to America, to be with you. You mean the world to me. I hate to do this over the phone, but until we can be together, what choice do I have?" He says. I hold my breath. "Amelia Kingston, will you marry me?" He says. I gasp, there are so many tears streaming my cheeks. I can hardly speak. I lean up against the wall and slide down it until I hit the floor.  
"Yes." I whisper.  
"I am the happiest man alive!" He exclaims.  
"Ich liebe dich zum Mond und zurück." I say, sobbing happily.  
"Und Ich liebe dich bis zum Ende des unniverse!" He replies.  
"Markus, I have to go. Mum's waiting to get home, I'll skype you tomorrow sweet heart. I love you so much!" I say, beginning to walk back over to Alex.  
"I love you to! Mein verlobte!" He says.  
"Mein verlobte." I repeat. He hangs up and I shut the phone.  
"Did I just hear you use the words 'mein verlobte'?" Alex asks me. I nod excitedly.  
"Yes you did!" I exclaim, running over and throwing my arms around her neck. "He just asked me, two minutes ago!" She hugs me back and laughs excitedly.  
"Oh sweetie! Congratulations!" She says.  
"Whats happening?" Craig asks.  
"I just got engaged!" I reply.  
"What? When?" Sal exclaims.  
"Two minutes ago!" I shout.  
"Omg! Congratulations Sister of mine!" She shouts, hugging me.  
"Congratulations!" Craig says.  
"Thank you!" I dry my eyes. "Wow, this has been quite the night!" I say. "Mum I'm getting married!" I say. She hugs me again.  
"I know!" She replies. "I'm so happy for you." She says. I still can't stop crying. I hug her tighter.  
"Thank you."   
"Right, lets get you girls home then." She says.  
"Okay mom." Salomè replies.  
"Yeah, mum, sounds good to me." I add.


	6. Markus' Arrival

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> So basically, Amelia's fiancé arrives. But things turn sour after a letter.... Tried to liven things up a bit with some feels :) enjoy :P

I wake up with my heart in my throat, my alarm shrilling. I press the button to turn it off. I can hardly breathe I'm so excited.  
"Amelia, what time does Markus' flight Get in?" Alex shouts upstairs to me.  
"Ten am!" I shout back.  
"All right, better hurry up and get dressed!" She shouts.  
"Okay!" I immediately head into the shower, wash and dry my hair before almost running into my wardrobe to get dressed. I choose a banana yellow, vintage styled dress that has a wide, buffed skirt, and a white cardigan. I throw my curls loosely and naturally over my shoulders and slip my feet into my white pumps. I apply my make-up, and all but skip downstairs to the kitchen.  
"You look wonderful." Alex says as I head over to the refrigerator to pour myself a glass of milk.  
"Thanks mum. You don't think its too..." I say.  
"No, I think you look perfect. Thats one lucky boy." She says.  
"Thanks mum." I reply.  
"What time are we picking Markus up at?" Salomé says, entering the kitchen.  
"We're leaving in half an hour." Alex replies. "Speaking of, what are you having for breakfast Amelia?" She asks, raising her eyebrows at me.  
"I'm really not hungry." I reply. She shakes her head at me.  
"You need to eat something." She says.  
"Really mum, I'm not hungry. Actually, I never really eat in the morning, its really quite remarkable that I have done so so much whilst being here. Really." I reply.  
"Why don't you eat in the morning?" She asks.  
"Actually, I don't really eat lunch either, and I often skip dinner." I say.  
"You don't eat for whole days?" She asks, totally aghast.  
"Yes..." I reply quietly. "I eat dinner three or four times a week, and sometimes a snack, but other than that, I really don't eat." I say.  
"Oh my gosh." Salomé exclaims, her and Alex look completely astounded.  
"Amelia that's really bad, really, really bad." Alex says.  
"I know..." I say.  
"Why don't you eat?" She asks. I take a deep breath.  
"Because I don't want to be fat." I say really, really quickly.  
"Excuse me?" She shouts. "Are you serious? Amelia If that's true so help me god I might actually lose it." She says.  
"I'm sorry. I had a hard time with self confidence, like. A really hard time..." I say.  
"So you stopped eating?" She asks.  
"Yes, amongst other things..." I reply, quietly.  
"What other things?" She asks.  
"I took weight loss pills." I say.  
"You did what?" She says.  
"Weight loss pills. I wanted to lose weight. It was all I thought about. Constantly. I weighed myself multiple times a day." I say.  
"Did you lose weight?" I say.  
"I did. I was four kilos underweight for a long time, but I didn't lose more than that. It drove me mad, so I ate less and took more of the pills, it was a desperate effort." I reply.  
"Oh Amelia. You're not fat!" She says. "There's not a pick on you!" She adds.  
"Well I guess you don't see the same me. We need to go or we're gonna be late." I say, and walk out to the car. Alex follows me of course, and salomé. She locks up the house and then unlocks the car. I sit in the front with Alex, Salomé gets in the back.  
"I'm sorry." I say to her. "I just didn't have a good time that year." I say. "Well, that couple of years. It was year eleven and twelve."  
"I don't want you to be sorry." Alex says, as she backs off the drive way. "I'm not angry at you, it just hurts me that you dealt with all of this without me, and that the worse part of all of this is that if you'd been with me, it wouldn't ever have happened." She says.  
"No, but thats not you're fault!" I say.  
"I know." She says.  
"Listen. My family were absolutely fine until what happened with Uncle Daryl. Yeah mum and I fought a lot, but that was to be expected, I was a typical teenage girl and I was dealing with undiagnosed PMT. Yeah they hit me, but all Scottish parents do!" I say.  
"So what exactly happened with your uncle?" Alex asks me.  
"Whats the date today?" I ask instead.  
"Don't change the subject." Alex says softly.  
"I'm not, its relevant."  
"Its the seventh today." She replies.  
"Thats right, the seventh of february. The day my uncle and his friend, his mother and My gran burst into my Uncle's locked house and found him dead. He'd hung himself in his bedroom." The shocked silence that follows that sentence is sickening. "Yeah, thats what happened. Ripped my family apart. My parents took their grief out on me for the two years that followed. So I wasn't happy, I was self harming, I was deliberately attempting to make myself underweight, I was crying all the time, I was seeing a counsellor and I was diagnosed with mild depression." I tell her. "So it wasn't your fault. I get really sad that you keep blaming yourself because it wasn't your fault." I say.  
"All right." She says. "I'm sorry. Are you okay? Today I mean?" She asks. I just burst into tears.  
"No not really." I wail. I feel Salomé place a supporting hand on my shoulder. I smile at her "My last christmas Scottland, we spent boxing day at gran's. My family, my uncle and his girlfriend, his brother and my cousin, gran's brother and his wife. My uncle said he had this really awesome game we should all play. He said he was going to walk home and get it, he only lived down the hill. I begged to go with him. And I did. He and I walked hand in hand through the snow all the way to his and back. I had ten solid minutes of one on one with him. He was the coolest Uncle ever. I just wish that I'd known then, just how much those ten minutes were going to mean to me. I don't know wether to feel so privileged that I got that time with him, or guilty that I can't remember what we talked about. I try so hard to remember but its been six years!" I say, crying really hard now. Glad I used waterproof make up today. Salomé hands me a tissue.  
"Thanks." I tell her.  
"I wish I knew what to say to make it better." Alex says.  
"Its okay, I've had two years of people trying to make it better, no one can make him come back though. So its not worth the effort. Thanks for trying." I tell her. "Now, I'm trying so hard not to be sad today. Today's supposed to be special. Markus is coming and I'm getting married soon." I say, drying my eyes and trying to smile.  
"I am so proud of you. Yes, we definitely have reason to be happy today, especially seeing as this is the airport now." I gasp, grab my hand bag and rummage around for my make up to touch up so that He doesn't see that I've been crying.  
"She's paranoid!" Sal says, laughing at me.  
"What? He reads me like a book!" I say. Alex parks up and we all get out of the car.  
"Do I look okay?" I ask Salomé.  
"Oh stop fussing! You look like perfection personified, okay?" She says.  
"Okay." I reply. We walk into the airport and Alex leads us to arrivals. Its quarter to ten. Thats good, we're early. Early is good.  
"Amelia relax." Alex says.  
"Oh my god I can't. I can hardly breathe!" I say, and I'm not kidding. I don't really know why but I'm shaking and tearing up and genuinely struggling to breathe. Alex takes both of my hands and guides me to a chair. She then kneels down in front of me and stares straight at me.  
"Look at me, you need to take a deep breath for me. Okay? A deep breath." I nod and try, but its so hard. "Just keep trying Amelia, its really important." Alex says. Eventually, I snap out of it and start breathing like a normal human again. "Thats better." Alex says. "All right?" She says, I nod. "Okay."  
"Thats ten am now." Salomé says.  
"He'll need time to get through customs and everything, he'll be another half hour, forty minutes yet." Alex says. I just nod. The hands seem to be crawling around the clock. I can't wait to see him. My fiancé! I'm getting married. Its so exciting!  
"Mum?" I say.  
"Yes?"  
"Can I invite them?" I ask her. "My adoptive family I mean." I add.  
"Of course you can. I would never stop you inviting your family to your wedding!" She replies.  
"I just wanted to check." At that moment, a group of teenagers come over and ask mum for autographs and photos. Salomé and I step back and watch mum become the amazing actress the world knows and loves. I flick my eyes up to the clock nervously. Ten thirty five. He'll be through any minute. I turn and stare at the arrivals gate. Almost willing the doors to open and reveal my Markus to me.  
Another ten minutes pass before the doors finally obey me, and there he is. Walking towards me, pushing a luggage cart and looking absolutely gorgeous.  
"Amelia!" He exclaims, letting go of the cart and letting it roll away. At that moment, neither of us care. I leap into his arms and he swings me around in a circle before putting me back on my feet and pressing his lips to mine. He kisses me so passionately and intensely, like he's making up for the lost time. I kiss him back just as passionately. I don't care who's watching. Its like we're the only two in the airport, everyone has disappeared. Its just him and I and its perfect. We break apart and stare intently into each others eyes.  
"Ich liebe dich zum Mond und zurück." I say.  
"Und Ich liebe dich bis zum Ende des unniverse!" He replies. "Now, I never got to do this properly the first time, but I can now." He takes a small box out of his pocket and gets down on one knee. I gasp and begin to let the tears flow freely down my cheeks.  
"Will you marry me?" He asks. I nod vigourously.  
"Yes!" I exclaim, he gets up and kisses me again.  
"I truly am the happiest man alive." He says, sliding the ring onto my finger. Its stunning! Silver band, laced with clear diamonds and a bright, beautiful sapphire in the centre. He takes his luggage cart again and I lead him over to meet Alex and Salomé.  
"Markus, this is my mum and sister." I say. "Salomé, Mum, this is Markus." I add. They all shake hands and greet one another. Well, Sal shakes his hand, mum pulls him in for a tight hug and kisses him on the cheek happily. "Mum look at my ring!" I exclaim, thrusting my hand at her.  
"Its absolutely exquisite!" She breathes, examining it.  
"I wanna see!" Salomé says. So I show her. "Amelia, its amazing!" She says.  
"I know right!"  
"Come on then, lets get you home and settled." Alex says. The drive home was extremely peaceful. Alex asked Markus a few questions about himself, Salomé skewered him for information. It was really rather comical, still he answered them both gracefully. I just stare at him the whole way home. Its been so long since I've seen him. We head back into the house and I show him up to my room.  
"Believe it or not, Mum's been surprisingly okay with us. She said you can sleep in here with me if you'd prefer, but she has prepared the other guest room for you, that way you have your own wardrobe and other storage space." I say. "But its up to you, if you'd rather sleep in there, then thats fine too." I add. He shakes his head.  
"I'd rather sleep with you, in here." He says. I smile and throw myself into his arms again.  
"I've missed you." I whisper.  
"I've missed you too." Oh his accent is just life! He leans in and kisses me again.  
"Okay if you two are gonna do that all the time now, at least put a sign on the door." Salomé says.  
"Oi cheeky, you're the one that waltzed straight in." I say, laughing at her. I turn around to face her, Markus instantly wraps his arms around my waist.  
"I thought you'd want to know about the news." She says.  
"What about it?" I ask her, confused.  
"Well, you'd better come and see. Mum's paused it in the living room." She says.  
"Okay." Markus and I follow her downstairs, hand in hand. "Mum whats the matter?" I ask walking into the living room.  
"Watch." She replies, and presses play.  
"In other news today, its just been reported that, British Actress, Alex Kingston's surprise elder daughter has recently gotten engaged. The couple were seen embracing at the airport where a near by group of fans taped the proposal on their phone." The anchor says. Alex pauses it again.  
"Oh my God." I say. "Why do they even care? Not that I mind people knowing, but I'm a nobody." I say.  
"Not anymore. And mum's fans literally want to know every single aspect of her life. Literally. That includes us." Salomé says.  
"Yes, they do."  
"Oh my god." I say again.  
"So the world will know about us?" Markus says.  
"Yes." I tell him.  
"Good! I want the world to know. I'll shout it from the roof tops if I have to, I'm going to marry you and we'll be together forever. I want to tell every single person I meet!" He says. I'm speechless.  
"Me too." I say. He kisses my cheek.  
"Um, I'm gonna make tea. Mom, you want tea? I think you want tea." Salomé says, leaving the room.  
"Yes, I think I do. I'll come help you make it." Alex replies, and they both leave the room. I laugh a little. He cups my face in his hand, whilst his other hand trails around the small of my back and draws me in close to him.  
"I love you." He says.  
"I love you too."

* 

Alex made us a truly amazing lunch. It was great. I'm checking the mail box at the very front of the house. I flick through the letters as I head back up to the house and see one addressed to me. I pause, tear it open and pull out the letter inside.

Amelia kingston.  
I'm just writing to introduce myself to you. Frankly, I'm disappointed you haven't introduced yourself to me. Especially after humiliating me the way you have, my image is tarnished forever at your hands. I'd like to meet you, let you get to know me. Then maybe we can start over and you won't hate me. I'd like to explain what happened. Please meet me, I've attached a phone number.

Yours sincerely  
R. Fiennes.  
(Your Dad)

My breath catches in my throat. I run back into the house, tears streaming my cheeks, I charge through to the kitchen and over to the patio doors.  
"Amelia? Whats wrong?" Markus asks, both him and Salomé getting up to see what the matter is.  
"Markus please. I'm sorry but at this precise moment I just need left alone." I reply. I get the door unlocked, throw the mail and the... Thing behind me and run down to the sand. I strip off my clothes, run straight into the water and dive.

 

SALOMÉ'S POV 

"Oh no." Markus says.  
"What is it?" I demand.  
"She only does that when she's really really upset and angry." He replies. I walk over to see what it was that she dropped. I pick up the mail and the open letter. I read it slowly and gasp.  
"What is it?"  
"She's right Markus, this isn't something you can fix. Right now, there's only one person Amelia needs and, I'm not trying to be rude, but that person is neither you or me." I say.  
"So who?" He calls as I run to the stairs.  
"Mom!" I shout upstairs as I run. "Mom!" I shout again as I reach the landing.  
"Salomé? What is it?" She asks, worriedly as she comes out of her bedroom.  
"Amelia. She's um... Swimming." I say. Mom's face drops.  
"Oh. What happened?" She asks.  
"This." I thrust the wretched letter into her hands. I watch her face fall even further as she reads it.  
"That bastard." She says, throws the letter behind her and charges back into her room. She comes back two seconds later in a swimming costume and her hair pulled back. I follow her downstairs to the kitchen and watch as she heads down onto the beach and out into the ocean.


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sorry if this chapter is too over dramatised guys... Anyway, hope you's enjoy it at least :)

AMELIA'S POV

I'm sobbing so, so hard. My chest is absolutely wracking and heaving with it, the noises escaping my mouth are awful, but they're masked by my constant diving beneath the waves. I stay under for a while each time. I go under again, but this time, something becomes visible in the corner of my eye. I turn around to see mum under there with me. Immediately, I kick my legs and swim up to the surface.  
"Mum!" I gasp, swimming over to her. I'm still crying. Properly crying.  
"Hey, sh, its all right, I'm here!" She says. I just nod.  
"I take it you read it?" I say. She takes a breath.  
"I did. He'd no right to do that to you." She replies. I shake my head.  
"Why would he do that?" I say.  
"I don't know sweetie, I don't know." Silence falls between us. "Amelia, I just want you to know, if you ever did want to meet him, if you do, I'd be completely okay with that..." She says. I shake my head again.  
"I don't want to go anywhere near him. That man is poison. His name is mud to me!" I shout. "That man is the reason I never got to grow up knowing and loving you! The reason I couldn't come and hug you when I was upset, or tell you when I was all excited about doing something right at school, or get pictures with you at my communion, my birthdays, my school balls! None of it! He's the reason you never saw me for nineteen years! I'm going nowhere near him! I can't... I can't!" I shout, crying even harder. Actually, at this point I can't breath again. But its bad, really bad this time.  
"Amelia!" Alex shouts, worried. "Amelia look at me!" She shouts. I try, but there's black clouds on my vision and I'm hyperventilating but I'm not getting any air. I think I might be sick. I feel so dizzy. I can't even tread water anymore!  
"Mum..." I breathe just before letting myself slip into the dark clouds. I feel myself slipping downwards until Alex's protective arms catch me. And thats the last thing I remember.

ALEX'S POV

"Amelia!" I shriek, shaking her. "Amelia so help me! Open your eyes!" I scream. Nothings working. She's not waking up. I drag her back to the shore and haul her up the sand. Once she's lying on the beach, I check to see if she's breathing. She is, but its weak. Really weak. I roll her into the recovery position and run back up to the house. I just open the door far enough to shriek,  
"PHONE AN AMBULANCE!" Into the house before running back to Amelia's side. "Amelia! Its mum! Please darling! If you can hear me! Please open your eyes!" I shout. But nothing's working. The initial adrenaline wares off and I burst into tears over her. Salomé and Markus come running down the beach towards us, Salomé talking frantically into her phone. "Tell them she went unconscious after a severe panic attack!" I shout at her. She nods and reiterates it to the person on the other end of the phone.   
"Amelia!" Markus shouts, kneeling down next to her. He takes her hand immediately and smooths her hair out of her eyes.   
"When's the ambulance coming Salomé?" I shout.  
"They said seven minutes mom." I nod and wipe the tears out of my eyes.   
"Thats not too bad" I tell her. I put my hand around to her face and check that she's still breathing. She is. Thank God.   
"What happened?" Markus asks.  
"She had a severe panic attack, so she wasn't getting enough oxygen and she passed out." I tell him, a sob escaping my mouth  
"Why? Why did she have a panic attack?" He asks.  
"She got a letter from her dad." I say.  
"Steven?"   
"No, my first husband. Ralph Fiennes. Her biological father." Silence falls as I constantly check her breathing and pulse until the paramedics arrived. Then suddenly, I'm telling Markus and Salomé to find their way to the hospital and I'm in the back of an ambulance with my unconscious daughter. The whole experience is rather surreal. As soon as we arrive at the hospital, she's whipped into resus.

 

Two hours later and we're finally up on the ward. Amelia is asleep, Markus and Salomé are sitting in chairs next to mine.  
"Mum?" I hear. My head snaps up.  
"Amelia!" I gasp.  
"Mum relax, you know I was only sleeping that time." She says. Staring straight up at me.   
"I know sweetie but You've scared ten years off of my life today." I tell her.  
"I'm really sorry." She says.  
"Its all right." I tell her.  
"Markus? Babe could you maybe grab me a drink?" She asks Markus bounds over to her.  
"Of course darling, what would you like?"   
"Just water. But from a bottle from a vending machine. The tap stuff is gross." She says. So Markus heads out of the room.  
"Are you feeling all right?" I ask   
"Yeah mum I feel way better." She says. "Are you all right?" She then adds, worriedly.  
"Yes. I am." I reply.  
"Liar." She states. Salomé laughs a bit.  
"I..." I start.  
"No." Amelia says. In that moment, I burst into tears.  
"You scared me, thats all." I say, my voice thick.  
"I'm sorry." She whispers, taking my hand.  
"Its all right." I tell her. She pulls me in and wraps her arms around my neck. I immediately hug her back.  
"I love you mum." She whispers.  
"I love you too." I tell her.

 

*  
AMELIA'S P.O.V.

"Mum!" I shout downstairs, madly rushing around getting ready to go out.  
"Yes Amelia what is it?" She replies.  
"Have you seen my lipstick?" I shout.  
"What one?"  
"The red one!" I reply.  
"Sweetie, that doesn't narrow it down." She shouts. I crawl under the bed to look and sigh in relief as I find it.  
"I got it!"  
"All right." She replies. I throw it in my bag and run downstairs.  
"Why are you in such a rush?" She asks as I bowl through into the kitchen.   
"I'm helping back stage tonight. I thought I told you?" I say.   
"No you didn't. Back stage for what?" She replies.  
"Les Mis. Its on tonight I have tickets for everyone. Did I seriously forget to give you them? I'm an idiot." I say.  
"You're not an idiot."   
"Mmm. Here." I reply, grabbing the three tickets from my hand bag. "Good seats too." I tell her as I hand her them. "I know Markus is out today, but he'll be back in time. I won't see you until afterwards. Enjoy it." I say, I kiss her on the cheek and then run out of the house. She has no idea! I laugh to myself an jump into the car and drive off to work.

"Excellent Rehearsal everyone! See you back here in one hour for warm ups. Actors, straight to hair and make up! Immediately!" Ryan shouts. I'm totally buzzing. Rehearsal was weird, we weren't allowed to waste our voices, so no singing. We just mimed an opera. I laugh thinking about it. I take a long swag of the lemonade and honey in my hand as I head over to my hair and make up artist.  
"Hey Marissa!" I say, sitting down in front of her.  
"Hello sweetie." She replies.  
"Right, do with me what you will." I say. And she does. I'm all hair and make up ready.... For the first scene at least. I head to costumes and they sort me into my first costume before I walk back to the main hall for warm ups. Ryan runs warm ups. A series of voice exercises and some stretching. Before I know it, I'm waiting in the wing, watching the audience pile full through a tiny gap in the curtain. I can just see mums curls in the third row. Showtime. My first scene comes up and I head out onto the stage. Man I love this, mind you, the mike is annoying, but way necessary. There's total silence in the audience when I start singing. A very quick glance at mum shows the absolute shock on her face. Perfect.

The show has run so smoothly and my favourite part is starting in literally two seconds. With a nod from the director, I head back out and begin:

"I dreamed a dream in times gone by..  
Where hopes were high and life worth living.  
I dreamed that love would never die.  
I dreamed that god would be forgiving.

.......

I had a dream my life would be!  
So different from this hell I'm living!  
So different now from what it seems!  
Now life has killed the dream I dreamed."

The show is absolutely amazing! I'm gutted its only running for three nights. Oh well. The end of the show comes quickly and the bows start. I wait in the back wing for all the extras and cameo's to take their bows and form the path way for the leads. They progress through from smallest character to the main leads. Its going so well. The audience are getting really excited, and then it happens.   
"Amelia Kingston!" I beam and just about skip out onto the stage, walk down the centre pathway through the cast and stop in the centre to take an over exaggerated bow. Mum leaps onto her feet, closely followed by the rest of the audience. I got a whole audience standing ovation! I beam even more before walking backwards to the centre. The cast join in the middle and we then bow to the audience as a whole. The excitement continues. The clapping, the photos, the sheer sense of accomplishment. Its so amazing!! The curtain makes its way to the floor, shoots back up so the audience can see us again to clap even harder, and then falls completely. 

 

*

"Amelia Kingston!" Shouts the paparazzi as I enter the lobby. I hold my head high and walk out into it all. "So Amelia, following in your mother's footsteps?" She says. I just smile.  
"Well yes, I guess I am. Mind you, she's left large shoes to fill, I don't think I'll go that far." I chuckle a little. "Just sort of experimenting at the moment, we'll see where that takes me." I say.  
"Well, you certainly have the talent. Oh and that voice! You've absolutely wowed us all! And not one of us saw it coming. Thank you so much for the amazing show! Hopefully see you again soon." She says.  
"Thank you!" I say and head on out.   
"Amelia you sly devil you never said a word!" Mum exclaims, rushing over and enveloping me in a hug.  
"I just wanted to surprise you. Did I?" I say.   
"Absolutely! Where on earth did you get that voice?" She exclaims.  
"From you, I think." I reply.  
"I can't sing like that." She says.  
"Uh, two words, coventry carol." I reply.  
"Well played." Salomé says. "Nice job sister of mine." She adds.  
"Why thank you sister of mine!" I reply.  
"Amelia you were amazing! Absolutely beautiful!" Markus exclaims.   
"Thank you sweetie!" I say. He kisses me quickly. Its drawn short because I feel something tugging on my dress. I turn around to find a little girl, she can't be more than six, standing with a permanent marker and the programme in her hands. She's dressed very, very well.  
"Excuse me. Can you sign my book?" She asks me, extremely politely. I glance quickly at mum, who's absolutely beaming, and then crouch down in front of the little girl.  
"'Course I can." I say. I take the book and the permo and quickly scrawl my signature into the cover. "There ya go sweetie. Have a good night." I say.   
"Thank you!" She says, smiling widely. She then runs off to join her parents and I stand back up.   
"Omg did that just happen?!" I excitedly squeak at Alex. To my surprise, there's tears in her eyes. She's smiling so widely.  
"It did!" She says. "I'm so proud of you!" She exclaims, pulling me in for another hug. I hug her back.  
"Thanks Mum!" I say, hugging her back. I hold on that little bit longer this time. She doesn't mind. I end up signing a load more autographs before we are able to leave.

We get in the door and I head up the stairs with Salomé and Markus. I fall asleep quickly, happily snuggled up with Markus' arm draped across my hips. I dream of performing and singing. Everything is excellent until its not. Mum's in the audience, but then the actors playing the guard come and grab me. They start dragging me away. Further and further from mum. I scream for her but nothing works! I wake with a start. I'm drenched in sweat. Markus is next to me, how he slept through that I'll never know. My voice is sore. I slip out of the covers and head downstairs. I am just unlocking the back door when I hear,  
"Not this time sweetie." from behind me. I turn around, tears streaming down my face, to find mum switching on the lamps. I just shrug and breakdown into sobs. "Come here." She says, coming towards me with open arms. I allow her to pull me towards her, right into a comforting hug. I stand sobbing into her shoulder for what seems like forever, before finally wiping my eyes and pulling away. "Bad dream?" She asks. I nod. "You were screaming for me. What happened?" She says.  
"They..." I stammer.  
"They what?" She pushes.  
"They were taking me away." I cry.  
"What do you mean?"  
"So I couldn't be with you anymore. They were literally dragging me away." I cry.  
"Oh sweetie. I keep telling you, no one is going to take me away from you, or vice versa. We're together forever now!" Alex says.  
"But... Mum... University. I... I have to go back next week. Then what?" I wail.  
"Oh I forgot about that. Amelia listen to me. I can't make it for about a week but I will join you in Australia. Hmm? Then you can relax. Would you like that?" She says. I nod.  
"Of course I'd like that. I literally don't want to be away from you for just one second! But what about Salomé?" She says.  
"She can go with you. Her dad's not expecting her back for another three weeks. She can fly to Australia with you. Then stay until she's due to go to her dad's and she can fly back as an unaccompanied minor. We can make this work." She assures me. I allow fresh tears to cascade down my face.  
"I love you." I whisper.  
"I love you too." She replies.  
"I'm sorry." I say, ferociously wiping my eyes.  
"What are you sorry for?"  
"Getting so worked up over nightmares at 19 years of age." I reply.  
"I've told you before, you're not to apologise for that. I understand why you're scared. I get it."  
"I don't want to lose you." I whisper, still crying.  
"You're not going to lose me." She says.  
"But I'm scared. And, I'm getting married soon. What if Markus wants to move away. I can't, I won't. What if being married means I can't be with you like this. What if I can't..."  
"Amelia stop it." She says, cutting me off. "Nothing is going to change because you're married. I give you my solemn promise of that." I nod. "Come on, lets go get some sleep." She takes my hand and leads me up to her room. "Come lie with me." She says. So I get in the bed next to her, shuffle down a bit and lie with my head on her chest and my arm around her waist, just totally snuggling in to her. She puts an arm around my back and strokes my hair with the other.  
"I love you." She whispers.  
"I love you too mum." I say. I stay awake for a while, she keeps stroking my hair. But I hear her snivel a bit. "What's wrong mama?" I say, using the German word for mum.  
"I'm just happy to have you in my arms liebling."  
"Me too. Mama, can you sing to me?" I ask.  
"What would you like me to sing?" She asks gently.  
"Can you sing me coventry carol?" I whisper.  
"Of course liebling." So she starts singing. I fall asleep to the sound of her voice lovingly soothing me, a supporting arm around me and the amazing sound of my mothers heart in my ear. 

"Amelia, phone call for you!" I hear Alex shouting from downstairs.  
"Okay Mama. I'm coming!" I rush down the stairs and into the kitchen to take the phone call. "Hello.... Yes, speaking.... Seriously? ... Just let me check." I pull the phone away from my ear and cover the receiver with my hand.  
"Who's that?"  
"Its Ellen!" I whisper.   
"Let me guess, she wants you in for an interview?" Alex says.  
"Yeah... Um, do you want me to turn it down?" I ask her, biting my lip.  
"Only if thats what you want. Sweetie, I won't hold you back, just think about it carefully. If this is the pathway you want to take, then go for it. But be sensible okay?" She whispers back to me.  
"Okay mama." I reply, with that, she leaves the room.  
"Hi Ellen? ... Yes I can do that... Tomorrow night? ... Sure.... I'll be there." I say. "Okay... Thanks heaps.... Bye!" I say. Oh my God I'm going on Ellen! Okay, time to act serious, I need to talk to mum. I head through to the living room to where she's sitting.  
"Mum?" I say quietly from behind her. She turns around immediately and smiles at me.  
"Yes sweetheart?"  
"You're not angry, are you?" I say, even quieter. A hint of regret crosses her features as she immediately exclaims,  
"No of course not sweetie! I want you to be happy with whatever choices you make in life, and not have any regrets. If this is the industry you'd like to go into, then go for it. I'll support you one hundred percent of the way! I promise you!" She says. I walk around the other side of the sofa and sit down next to her.  
"You're worried I'll regret giving up nursing, aren't you?" I say. She smiles.  
"A little, you've wanted it for so long." She replies.  
"I know, but I'll still have my degree. I keep thinking, if this doesn't work out, or if I hate it, or even just want a break, I can still use it, can't I?" I say.  
"Of course you can." She replies.  
"All right."  
"I take it you've agreed to go on Ellen?" She asks me.  
"Yes." I reply. "Mama?" I ask.  
"Yes?"   
"Will you come with me?" I say. She takes my face in her hand.   
"Of course."


	8. Australia

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hehe this is where things get a bit more fangirly hahaha oh well. I just went with it, I hope you lot all just go with it too.. I never plan when I write, I just start and then I can't stop. It doesn't always seem realistic. I don't care if you don't :) hope you enjoy :)

So the interview comes, Alex and I hit the studio together, both looking absolutely fabulous I must say. I told Ellen I'd get ready myself, hair and make up could then just give me the once over. Alex did my hair for me. I love that I have a mum who actually enjoys little mother-daughter things like styling my hair. Its beautiful. Either way, the pre show interview went well. Ellen's actually hilarious. And she let Alex sit in with us. Either way, I'm now standing back stage waiting for Ellen to call me on.  
"So Ladies and Gentlemen, big round of applause for Amelia Kingston!" She shouts. So I plaster on a smile and walk on out.  
"Hi Ellen!" I exclaim, greeting her before heading over to sit down.   
"Amelia, you look gorgeous." She says.  
"Thank you!" I reply.  
"And that hair!" She adds. The audience roar.  
"Kingston thing." I say, gaining more clapping and laughter.  
"Yes I think So. So how are you?" She asks.  
"I'm well thanks Ellen, how are you."  
"I'm good! I came to see you in Les Mis." She tells me.  
"Oh did you!"  
"Yes! I was in the fifth row from the front. What a fabulous performance. Just breathtaking!"   
"Thanks Ellen. Yeah, we just had an absolutely amazing cast and crew and the best director you could hope for. It was amazing. We all got along like a tight knit family, it made it easy to work with, so yeah."  
"Good. Glad to hear you enjoyed it then." She says.  
"Yes I really did."  
"Good. So you grew up in Scotland?"   
"Yeah, I grew up in the slightly dismal town of Coatbridge. No I'm kidding, its not really dismal. I mean it is. Oh you'd have to see it." I say, making everyone laugh.  
"Wow. I can't believe that." She says. "And you never knew about your Mom?" She asks. I shake my head.  
"Not a clue. Alex turned up in Australia as a happy surprise." I tell her.  
"Yeah, thats right, cause you lived in Australia didn't you?" She replies.  
"Yeah, moved over with my family when I was 12... Almost thirteen. So that was around two thousand and nine. Lived there until Alex came."  
"Thats amazing. Now I must ask you, the question on everybody's mind, how're the wedding plans going?" She asks.  
"Excellently. Its all running perfectly smoothly." I reply.  
"So, have you decided on a date?" She asks.  
"Spoi-lers!" I reply, dragging the word out sarcastically. The audience erupts.  
"Its almost as cool when you say it as when your mum says it!" Ellen says.  
"Its an accent thing." I reply, laughing.  
"Yeah. Each one of you have a different accent don't you?" She says, smiling.  
"Yeah, mum's about as English as you can go, Sal's American, clearly I'm Scottish and my fiancé is German." I say.  
"Wow." She replies.  
"I know."  
"Now, you brought your mum with you didn't you?" She asks. Its so weird because she knows I did and I know she knows because we all talked about it ten minutes ago. Chat shows are weird.   
"Yeah she's here. She supports everything I do."  
"I bet she does."  
"She really does. Her and Salomé are coming to Australia with me for a while to support my last semester at uni." I tell her.  
"Aw thats so sweet. What are you studying?"  
"I'm doing nursing." I reply.  
"Wow. Thats a full on course. How long have you been studying for?" I ask.  
"Nearly three years now." I reply.  
"Wow." She says. "Is that full on?"  
"Yeah, its crazy. They cram six units into eight weeks we have mid terms, week four exams, and finals in week ten. Then five solid weeks out on prac. Its madness." I say. "But, its not medicine." I add, smiling sweetly and shrugging.  
"Well thats still a lot. Anyway I was wondering, if you'd be so kind, would you possibly sing us something from Les Mis?" She asks. I flush scarlet.  
"Um, sure." I say. This was not mentioned in the pre interview chat. Oh well.  
"Excellent!" Ellen exclaims. The audience goes nuts again. Damn this is cool! "All right, you need to come over to my special mike." She says. So I follow her across the stage to the mike. "Yep, just in there. And the music will start whenever you're ready."   
"Okay." I nod. I walk up to the mike and take it out of the stand. I hold the stand in my left hand and my mike in the right and the music starts.

"I dreamed a dream in times gone by..  
Where hopes were high and life worth living.  
I dreamed that love would never die.  
I dreamed that god would be forgiving.

.......

I had a dream my life would be!  
So different from this hell I'm living!  
So different now from what it seems!  
Now life has killed the dream I dreamed."

 

The audience erupts in applause, as does Ellen.  
"Wow!" She shouts. "You have an amazing voice!" She says. I blush again.  
"Thank you." I reply, putting the mike back in its stand and following Ellen back over to the chairs.  
"So we have some things for you!" Ellen says.  
"No way!" I exclaim.  
"Yes way." She says. "But first, I'd appreciate it if a very special person back stage could please join us on stage." Ellen says.  
"What's happening?" I say. Ellen gives me the 'just wait' face. Suddenly the audience are on their feet yelling, and stamping and screaming. Then I see mum walking towards me. She comes over and takes my hand. I lean up and kiss her on the cheek, recieving loads of "aw's" from the audience.  
"Mama?" I question, smiling at her. She's got her super sly face on. "What's happening?" I say again.  
"Spoilers dear!" She says, sending the audience into a frenzy. Then Ellen Pipes up.  
"Ladies and Gentlemen, would you please all welcome, STEVEN MOFFAT!" My breath catches in my throat as the legend himself walks onto the stage. People in the audience are crying. The tardis noise is playing. I might cry too!  
"Hello!" He says, in an accent that just about matches my own.  
"Hey!" Ellen replies.  
"Hello Steven." Alex says, kissing him on the cheek.  
"Alex, great to see you." He says. He then shakes my hand.  
"Wow, Amelia, lovely to meet you." He says.  
"You too." I reply.  
"My God, the resemblance is remarkable!" He says, looking back and forth between Alex and myself. We all sit down as Alex says,  
"Yes it is frightening." Making everyone laugh.  
"Its the hair I can't get over. I mean just look at it!" Ellen shouts, making the audience roar.  
"Clearly they like it too." Moffat says. Ellen, Alex and Moffat make small talk for another while, including me occasionally, before Ellen says,   
"Well, thank you for your time, its been lovely meeting you. Absolutely lovely! Moffat and the Kingston's everybody!" The audience goes nuts, we all bid Ellen farewell, I take hold of mums hand and we all head back stage again.   
"Right, Steven, are you coming back to mine for tea?" Alex asks.  
"That would be lovely Alex." He replies. But it all seems so staged... I can't figure out what's happening. Oh well.   
The drive home is short and uneventful, but I'm grateful to get in the door again.  
"Amelia!" Markus says, coming over and kissing me quickly.   
"Hi." I say.  
"How was it?" He replies.  
"It was good." I reply, meanwhile Sal spots Moffat and leaps off of the sofa.  
"Steven!" She exclaims, running over to hug him.  
"Hey there Sal, how are you kiddo?" He asks.  
"I'm great! What about you?" He asks.  
"Excellent."   
"Right, everyone, lets head through to the kitchen for tea." Alex says. Ten minutes later, we're all happily sitting around the table eating dinner. There's been general small talk so far, but I keep catching mum and Steven glancing over at one another.  
"Okay Mama what's going on?" I say.  
"Whatever do you mean liebling?" She replies.  
"Well, so far, you two keep smirking and glancing at each other and every time you speak, its strained as though you're trying not to laugh, what is it?" I say.  
"She's observant, I'll give you that." Moffat says.  
"I know. Well, I suppose we can hardly keep it a surprise much longer." Alex adds.  
"No, we can't." Moffat replies, passing me a super thick envelope. I take it off of him, push my plate away from me so as to avoid mishaps, and open it. I pull out a thick booklet labelled,  
"Planet 10354." I raise my eyebrows in confusion and open the first page. Then I gasp.  
"But this is a script?" I say, Mum's smiling so much its mad.  
"How excellent of you to notice, yes Amelia, its a script. Give it a read over, there's a new character added. Cassidy Song. Now, I'm not expecting a reply tonight, just let me know tomorrow if you'd be up for it. Okay?" He says. I cannot breathe.  
"Are you serious?" I whisper.  
"Quite." He gets up and kisses Alex and Sal on the cheek. "As always girls, its been a pleasure. Hope to hear from you soon Amelia." He says, "Ah, and you know its a secret." He adds, staring at us all quickly and then leaves. I am speechless.  
"Amelia, are you all right?" Alex says.  
"Mama, I don't know what to say." I reply, peeling my eyes from the script and looking up at her.   
"You don't have to take it if you don't want it." She replies.  
"But of course I want it! I just, would you really be okay with that?" I ask.  
"Of course!" She replies.  
"Well I'll tell him yes. But, what about uni?" I say.  
"Filming doesn't start for another two months yet. You'll be back in time my dear." She tells me, smiling. 

 

*

"I know we flew first class, but that flight was so disgusting." Salomé says.  
"You're telling me." I reply. "And saying goodbye to Markus was awful." I add, as we head up to customs. "Right, this is where it gets complicated. I have an Australian passport, so I have a different section to go through. You're over there. I've filled out the form and declared you're carrying American confectionary. They should take you straight through as a result. I'll meet you outside the arrivals gate okay?" I say to her.  
"Got it. See you in a minute sister of mine."  
"Sure thing sister of mine." I reply.

I get straight through, as usual, and only have to wait ten minutes until Salomé walks through the arrivals gate.  
"Right mrs, lets get outta here." I say. So we jump into a taxi. And go straight to the hotel in Perth. We head straight up to the room and I jump onto the couch.   
"Ah, the lap of luxury omg!" I say.  
"Forget the lap of luxury! Do you realise we are in Australia?" Sal exclaims.  
"Yeah hun, I live here." I reply, sarcastically.   
"Yeah so show me around! Lets hit the shops or something!" She says. I laugh at her.   
"All right, just let me change first." I reply. So we both get showered and changed and head out into the city. "Here." I say, handing Sal some coins.  
"Uh, whats this?" She says.  
"Australian money. You'll need it for the bus. Thats three dollars." I say. We catch the bus into the heart of the city and get off on hay street. "This is the main shopping street." I tell her.  
"Wow! This is so cool!"   
"Salomé! Amelia! Can we have pictures!" Shout a bunch of british girls. Salomé and I exchange a glance that screams "freaks", but happily oblige. Its so cool, but it draws a lot of attention, which is weird until I see a very familiar face.  
"Aimee?" Miss Hill asks  
"Miss?!" I exclaim.  
"Great to see you!" She says, enveloping me in a giant cuddle.  
"You too! By the way, its Amelia now." I say.  
"What on earth are you on about? And why are you being photographed? And signing autographs?" She asks, clearly confused.  
"Well miss, did you google Alex Kingston when I told you to?" I say.  
"No I never got the chance." She replies.  
"Well, she's one of Britain's best actresses. Actually, she's the best. One of the most well known too." I say. "By the way, this is my sister, Salomé." I say. "Sal, this is miss Hill." I add.  
"Hey." Sal says, in her very Californian accent.  
"Nice to meet you sweetheart. Listen Aim, I gotta run. I'll google it as soon as I get home hun." She says. She hugs me again, we bid each other farewell and she leaves.   
"Right sister of mine, lets shop." I say, grinning at Salomé.  
"Its like you read my mind." She replies. So we spend a whole four hours getting lost in Perth before heading back to the hotel to sleep.

The rest of the week, I head back to classes and also find the time to show Salomé around fremantle in between. Saturday arrives super quickly and we head back to Perth airport to pick mum up.  
"Girls!" She exclaims as she comes through the arrival gate.  
"Mum!" Salomé and I shout simultaneously (well, I shout mum, salomé shouts 'mom').  
"I've missed you both so much!" She says, hugging us both tightly.  
"We've missed you too!" I say.  
"Missed you like crazy!" Salomé adds. We then head back to the hotel and spend the night getting mum unpacked and sorting everything out.


	9. Chapter 9

I wake up the next morning to find Salomé shaking me.  
"Get up silly, we're going out." She says.  
"Okay." I mumble. "Where exactly are we going?" I ask.  
"I wanna see Rockingham. Mum says we can go if you're up." She replies.  
"I think you'll find I said 'if she's up for it' Sal, I never meant you to wake her up." Alex says from the door way.  
"Oh well, I'm up now. We might as well." It takes us an hour to get dressed, sorted and to the train station, then its half an hour on the train and five minutes on the first bus to the shopping centre.   
"Here it is." I say.  
"Its tiny." Salomé says.  
"Oi, this place has served me well." I say, playfully feigning hurt.   
"Oh haha." Sal says.  
"Right, lets get in there then." So I lead us up to the doors and in the Target entrance.  
"Australia has Target!" Salomé exclaims.  
"Yeah. They do." I reply, laughing at her.  
"Oh Salomé." Alex says. We're stopped again for photo's and autographs, same as usual really,  
"Annie!" I hear from behind. I whip round.  
"Ruth." I say, not exactly happily. Alex and Salomé look abundantly confused. "Its Amelia now. By the way." I add.  
"Right. Um... How are you?" She replies.  
"I'm fine. You?" I ask.  
"I'm fine. What's been happening with you?" She asks.  
"Oh, well about a month ago, Alex Kingston, my birth mum, came and told me who she was to me, I went back to LA with her. Met my sister, Salomé," I gesture to sal, "then my German fiancé joined us in the states and Alex and Salomé have come to Australia with me to be there whilst I finish my last semester. Markus, thats my fiancé by the way, has gone back to Germany, we'll be reunited the day before our wedding day. Oh and I've been on TV and in an opera and what not. How about you?" I ramble. She looks totally stunned. Alex and Sal have the "what the hell is going on here?" expression on their faces.  
"I uh... Well. That sounds, Um, full on. I've just been at uni." She replies.  
"Great." I turn to Alex and Sal. "This is ruth." I say, then turn back to ruth, "ruth, meet my mum and sister, Alex and Sal." There's a chorus of "Hi's" and "Nice to meet you's".   
"Well I'd best get off. Congratulations on the engagement. And uh, good luck I guess."  
"Yeah, good luck to you too." With that she walks away.  
"What on earth?" Sal exclaims, as soon as Emma is out of hearing distance. "That was literally the most awkward thing in the world." She adds.  
"Yeah, ruth and I used to be best friends. What happened is a long story, but I pretty much just stopped talking to her. I told her why though, and I told her I would be happy to be her friend still, but I equally said it was her turn to make the effort. Not my problem she didn't do it. Guess I was too damn tired of waiting around until my friendship was convenient for her." I say.  
"Too-shay." Alex says.  
"Good on you." Sal adds.   
"Right, who wants to have the best smoothies in the world?" I say.  
"Oh I am so there." Sal replies.  
"Yes, that sounds good." Alex says, laughing at Sal.

We had the best week. Albeit I had classes for the majority of it, but anyway. Trouble is, Salomé is heading back to her dad's today. It'll be another eight weeks before I see her again. Alex is putting on a brave face, but she's pretty cut up by it, I can tell.  
"You promise to skype me?" She says to me.   
"I promise. You better answer me mrs." I reply.  
"I will." We're both crying, and we have our arms around each other, I have no intentions of letting go anytime soon.  
"Just think, next time you see me, I'll be a registered nurse!" I say.  
"I know. I can't even believe it!" She says.  
"It'll go quick." I say, pulling her in even tighter, and crying into her hair.   
"Yeah, it will." She replies. Crying just as heavily into my shoulder. I let go of her and step back so that her and Alex can say goodbye. Its awful to watch. Salomé is crying, Alex is doing everything in her power not to let the tears fall, but she's certainly struggling. They don't let go of one another for ages.   
"Mami, I'm gonna miss my flight." Sal says. "I love you so much." She adds.  
"Und Ich liebe Sie." Alex replies. Her and I stand and wave as Sal heads on through the departures gate. When she's completely out of sight, I slip my hand into Alex's in attempt to offer support and we walk back to the car. Just as I get in and shut the door, Alex breaks down into full, chest wracking, shoulders shaking sobs. It just about breaks me to watch. I lean over and pull her into my chest and hug her while she cries out.  
"Mami you're okay." I say softly. "Sal's fine. She's gonna be fine. We can talk to her on skype tomorrow." I add. She nods.  
"I know liebling. I know." She says. She straightens herself up in her seat and tucks her curls behind her ears. "Right, lets get back to the hotel." She says. I nod. There's tears threatening to fall again. The drive home is in silence, apart from a few snivels every now and then from both of us.

"Mami?" I ask as we get in the door.  
"Ja Liebling?" She replies. I always go all warm inside when she speaks German to me. I finally have a special connection with my mum.  
"Can I sleep with you tonight?" I whisper. She takes my face in one hand and nods.  
"I'd like that." She says, and kisses my head.  
"Okay, I'm gonna go change." I say. She nods again.  
"All right." So I head on through and pull off my nursing student uniform and pull on my pj's. Then I brush my teeth and take off all of my make up before heading back through to the kitchen-y area of the suite.   
"Was wollen sie trinken?" She asks.  
"Is there any tea?" I reply.  
"Yeah. Lots of milk right?" She asks.  
"Yeah, lots of milk." I reply. "Mami ich liebe Sie."   
"Ich liebe dich auch Liebling." She replies. We drink our tea in silence and then crawl into bed, lying curled up into each other for support. I still can't believe it, I'm hugging my mum. My mum, who loves me, and who shares the most amazing and god damn precious bond in the world with Salomé and I. I have everything I've ever wanted.

 

 

 

"Mami, are you ready?" I shout. Its graduation day. I'm so excited!  
"I'm coming Liebling! Two more seconds I promise." She replies.  
"Okay." I finish my cup of tea and put the mug in the sink.  
"Right, ready to go?" Mum says.  
"Yes." I reply, looking up at her. She's stunning, all done up, curls sitting perfect, wearing the most amazing dress.  
"Well then, lets get this show on the road." So we do. We head to the university, mum has to go with the other parents and families etc, while I have to go with the students to Prendiville Hall and get graduation robes and a cap. The Dean's come and have their say to us, then we head to the hall and take our seats. The day drags on, watching all of these students going up to accept their degree. Its ages before the School of Nursing and Midwifery are called up. We go to the queuing area and wait. I'm not too far back, so I watch the first few people head on up for their degree.  
"Annie Callaghan!" Shouts the dean, freaking finally. Despite hating them using my old name, I get up and head over to shake her hand and accept my degree. I'm beaming! Mum's on her feet clapping like crazy. I'm ecstatic. It's like I'm walking on air!

Following the ceremony, everyone gathers for food and refreshments in Prendiville. I see mum coming in the opposite door. She see's me too and makes her way over immediately.  
"Mami!" I exclaim.  
"mein Baby ist eine Krankenschwester!" She exclaims, wrapping her arms around me.  
"Ich weiß Mama!" I reply, laughing. She takes my face in her hands and smiles warmly at me.  
"I'm so proud of you!" She says.  
"Vielen Dank, Mami." I say to her.  
"Now what on earth are you thanking me for?" She says.  
"Supporting me." I tell her. Hugging her again.  
"Sweetie, I was only there for one semester." She replies.  
"And it was like you made up for all of them in one go." I reply. "Now, lets go get a proper lunch, hmm? Rather than finger food." I say.  
"Absolutely. And I know just the place."   
"Okay." I say. She takes my hand and I let her lead me out of Prendiville hall. We get in the car and she drives off.  
"Mami, where are we going?"  
"Spoilers sweetie." She replies. I laugh at her.  
"I hate it when you say that!" I say, making her laugh.  
"Sweetie, every whovian in the world hates it when I say that. And they should all know by now that I won't be bribed into telling the answers." She says, smirking at me.   
"I know. It sucks." I laugh at her. The drive is actually a long one, and she ends up pulling into Peel Manor House.   
"Mum what are you doing?" I say, skeptically.  
"I told you, spoilers." She replies.  
"Okay." I get out of the car and take her hand. She then leads me in through the door, through the lobby and pulls me into a ball room, absolutely full of my friends and family shouting happy graduation day! I gasp in surprise, making her laugh. But the biggest surprise of all happens when the one person I've missed like mad for two months steps out onto the middle of the floor. I just burst into tears and run full speed ahead straight into her arms.  
"Sal!" I shout.  
"Amelia! I've missed you so much!  
"I know! I've missed you too! I can't believe you're here!" There's a chorus of "aw's" from around the room. Mum comes towards us. "Mama! You did all of this?" I say to her. She nods, tears in her eyes. Everyone's clapping.  
"You deserved it. We're so proud of you!" She says.  
"We?" I question.   
"Hello Annie." I hear. I turn around to see my adoptive parents and Lauren and james standing behind me.  
"Lauren! James!" I exclaim. I run straight at them and hug them tightly. "I've missed you two!" I exclaim.  
"We missed you too ejit." Lauren replies.  
"Hoy you! Don't even start me Luigi!" I turn to my parents. "Thanks for coming." I say.  
"We wouldn't actually have missed it." Mum replies.  
"But you kicked me out." I say.  
"No you left."  
"Yeah, after you saying that if I got on the plane with my real mum, that I wouldn't be a member of this family anymore. I only wanted to get to know her." I reply.  
"Annie, watch your tone." Dad says.  
"Don't start." I reply.  
"I was angry and upset. If you couldn't see that there's something wrong." Mum says.  
"You still kicked me out. Now, for the love of God don't ruin my graduation." I say, then I turn to face lauren and James. "Guys, this is Salomé." I tell them, gesturing at her. "Sal, this is zara, and this is callum." I tell her. They all shake hands and what not.  
"Amelia, I'm way thirsty, but I'm not old enough to go to the bar. Can you help me out?" Sal asks.  
"Sure thing sister of mine. What are you after?" I say.  
"Just a soda."  
"Cool. Lauren, James, sprite?" I say.  
"Its like you read our minds." Lauren says.  
"Yes please." James adds. So I head over to the bar, grab Sal an American cream soda, two sprites for Lauren and James, and a large Smirnoff ice for myself.  
"Oh and will you add in a glass of white wine for my mum?" I shout to the bartender.  
"Sure thing." He replies. I hand him the right cash, then carry the tray of drinks back to the group.  
"Here you go, mami, I brought you a white wine. Its arrogant frog, hope thats okay." I say.  
"Thats wonderful, danke Liebling." She replies.  
"Gern gersehen." I say. I look around the room. "Mami, you've invited all my friends!" I exclaim in surprise. "How...?" I breathe.  
"Facebook Liebling." She replies.  
"Right! Thank you!" I leap into her arms again."  
"You're welcome, Liebling." She replies, laughing at me a bit. I'm grinning like the Cheshire cat!  
"What's Liebling?" James asks.  
"Its German for Darling." I tell him. "Sal, come meet everyone!" I say. Then I'm running around the room with lauren, James and Sal, introducing Sal to my high school friends. All my friends from uni have their own graduation celebrations today.We're getting on great and the DJ is amazing! Suddenly, the music stops.   
"Can I have everyone's attention please." The DJ says, shutting everyone up. "A mr and Mrs Andrews would like to propose a toast."  
"Oh my God!" I exclaim, covering my mouth with my hand. Gran and Grandpa step out from behind the curtains and granny takes the mike.  
"Well done our Precious girl." Granny says. "We'd just like to say that, we always knew one of you would end up in the health care profession one way or another, and what better way to do so than to follow in the footsteps of half of the family by entering the amazing world of nursing. Having nursed my whole life, I'd like to impart some advice to you..." She pauses, I'm crying. Mum certainly saw that because she's come over and taken my hand. "You'll learn something new from each and every patient, don't ever make assumptions. You keep your head held high and work hard and you just be the best nurse you can be, the rest will follow through." Gran says. Grandpa then takes the mike. "With that said, we'd like everyone to raise their glasses, to Staff Nurse Callaghan!" He says.  
"Its Kingston." I whisper, mum gives my hand a squeeze.   
"That doesn't matter today." She says, and quickly kisses my head. The whole room chorus's "Staff nurse Callaghan!" I run up the stairs to the stage and greet my grandparents. Despite everything, I'm so excited to see them. Shortly afterwards, they head down and I take the mike myself.  
"Okay. Right now I'm standing in a room full of people who know me better than anyone, and yet, not one of you has a clue whats been going all. Pretty obvious seeing as you all keep calling me Annie. My name's been legally changed to Amelia Kingston, the name given to me by my birth mother, Alex Kingston. Dunno how many of you know who that is, but seeing as the vast majority had to put up with me fangirling, I'm certain that the majority of you do know. By the way, she is here, so, don't care how big a whovian you are, please respect that we're here to celebrate my graduation, and that mums here to support me, I'd appreciate it if you didn't all bombard her for photo's and autographs. Also, for those of you who knew about Markus, he and I are engaged and due to be married very soon. So, there's a whole bunch of invitations to be handed out. The wedding is in Perth and then I'll be moving to LA in the coming weeks. Love you all dearly, and thanks for coming!" I say, before handing the mike back to the DJ and getting down off of the stage.  
"That was brave." Sal says.  
"Well, they'd have found out eventually." I reply.  
"Won't your mum be mad?" She asks.  
"Sal, Alex is my mum. Annmarie can deal with it." I say.  
"Okay."   
"You're engaged?" Lauren shouts.  
"What even!" James adds.  
"Yeah, your invites were sent out in the mail. I invited all of you." I say.  
"Omg!" Lauren exclaims. Next I'm dealing with a bunch of "oh my god's" and "what a surprise's" and "when did this happen's" from literally everyone in the room.


	10. The Dress(es)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> So sorry that its been forever, had a really tough time in my life but I'm finally through it. Anyway, enjoy chapter 10! I hear Wedding bells for miss Amelia ! And something old & borrowed.... ENJOY :) (at least, i really hope you'll enjoy!)

"That was literally the best day ever!" I say, as we get in the door of our hotel suite.  
"Agreed." Sal says.  
"I'm glad you enjoyed it Liebling."  
"Oh mum, enjoy it? I'm ecstatic! And! My grandparents don't hate me!" I exclaim. Then panic, "Adoptive grandparents even." I add.  
"Were you worried that they would?" Mum asks. I look at the floor.  
"Well yeah. My adoptive mum has a real way of twisting stories to make me the sole enemy, and her totally innocent. She's always done it. I wasn't worried they'd hate me, I whole heartedly expected them to." I say.  
"Oh Liebling. I'm glad they don't." She replies.  
"Yeah, thats harsh." Sal says. I smile.  
"Oh well, I don't know that I'd care much if they did. I'm happy exactly where I am now." I say smiling. "Which kind of reminds me, Mami?"   
"Yes?"  
"I don't have a dress yet... And I was wondering.. Would you like to come shopping with me tomorrow? And you too Sal." I say.  
"Of course!" Mum replies.  
"I'd love to! Any particular reason you want my opinion? Like thats not something you wanna share just with mom?" She says.  
"Of course not! Sal I want you both to help! And you need a dress anyway, I want you to be my maid of honour." I say. She gasps.  
"Omg Really!" I laugh at her outburst.  
"Uh duh!" I say, she thrusts herself at me.  
"Thank you! I love you!" She says.  
"Hey you're strangling me! I love you too!" I reply, laughing. "Oh and, Mami?" I ask, turning to face her properly. My voice goes all thick and I get tears in my eyes just trying to ask her.  
"Will you walk me down the isle? And would you mind awfully if my adoptive dad walks down the other side?" I ask. Allowing the tears to cascade down my face.  
"Oh Liebling! Of course I'll walk with you. And of course I don't mind!" She replies. I can't speak for crying so I just nod. She pulls me into her arm and hugs me for ages.  
"Right girls, we should probably get to bed. You've both had a big day, Sal you'll pass out from jet lag any second, and we're up and out to go dress shopping in the morning." She kisses both of our heads. "Goodnight my beautiful girls." She says.  
"Night Mami." Sal says.  
"Night mum, Ich Liebe Sie."   
"I love you both too." She replies. I head into my room, only to discover Salomé waltzed straight in behind me.  
"Sister of mine, mind if I sleep in here with you?" She says.  
"Course not sister of mine." I reply. So we slip into our pj's and slip into my bed.

*

"Oh my gosh I don't even know where to start!" I say, as we walk into one of the bridal shops in Perth city.  
"Well, what have you in mind?" Mum asks me.  
"I don't know.." I say.   
"Calm down sweetie, we can figure this out."  
"I've never even thought about..."   
"About what?" Mum cuts me off. "Never thought about your dress?"   
"No... I thought about the dress. But I always thought about wearing my mum's dress. I never even looked at another dress. I always dreamed that I'd feel twice as special if I wore mums..." I say.  
"Well, what was your mother's dress like?" Alex asks.  
"Um.. Well, it came out when everyone was obsessed with Lady Diana's dress. It was similar, but not quite as boofy... Uh, the train was massive, it had a tight corset styled bodice, the puffy sleeves that were all the rage and a boofy skirt." I say.  
"Well, that sounds fairly generic." Mum replies. "Relax sweetie, we can do this." She says. But we search for hours. Nothing felt right, I didn't like any of them.  
"Mami I'm so sorry." I keep repeating. She puts her hands on my shoulders.  
"Listen, Liebling, no one's upset with you! You need to find the right dress, I won't stand for you wearing one you're not happy with. Come back to the hotel, I have something I want to show you." She says. I nod.  
"Okay." So we go back to the hotel again.  
"Sit on the sofa." Mum says to Sal and I. So we do, she heads into her bedroom. "Now, I only brought this to show you as an extreme emergency. I doubt you'll like it." She shouts through to us from the room.  
"Whats she on about?" Sal mumbles to me.  
"I have no clue." I reply. Mum reappears with a suit bag, but its a long one.   
"I mean, I hope you'll like it, but you don't have to. So don't feel obliged." She says, unzipping the bag. She ends up pulling out a white dress. Floor length. It has the most exquisite lace bodice that has thick straps, the bottom half gets boofy on the hips, where a beautiful chiffon fabric flows towards the floor. I gasp.  
"Mum!" I breathe. "Thats... Thats beautiful!" I say.  
"I wore it when I first was married. It doesn't exactly bring good luck, but rather, some of that extra tradition you said you were after. You're more than welcome to have it." I can't even speak. I feel if I open my mouth I'll burst into full blown sobs. I nod and smile at her. "Are you all right?" She asks. I take a breath in, but it ends up being one of those hyperventilated kind of breaths.   
"I'm f-fine." I say. "You brought that all the way from L.A?" I say.  
"Well... I thought, as a sort of back up plan, it might come in handy." She replies.   
"Mami I love it!" I say.  
"Do you want to try it on then?" She asks me, smiling warmly. I nod back at her. "Come on then." So I follow her back into the bedroom and she helps me into the dress. It fits perfectly! Wow! I walk over to the mirror and gasp. Oh the train is amazing!  
"Oh my." I breathe.   
"You like?" She asks, biting her lip.  
"Oh mum, I love!" I reply.  
"Well, thats settled then. You can wear this dress." She replies.  
"Excellent!" Then it hits me. "But you and Sal still need dresses. What day is it?" I ask.  
"Friday. Late night in the city, we'll manage." She replies.  
"Cool. We can try Myers, we might find nice dresses in there." I say.  
"All right then, we'll do that." So she helps me out of the wedding dress and carefully zips it back up in its carrier. "Lets go then." So we drive back into the city and head into Myers.  
"Do you think we should look all over, or start in the bridal section?" I ask.  
"Probably the bridal section, surely they'd have more wedding-appropriate dresses." Salomé replies.  
"Yeah, good point." So we head up to the bridal section and start hunting. About ten minutes in, I find the most gorgeous burgundy dress. It has thicker straps and its a thick satin-like material, with white and burgundy sashes tied around the waist line like a belt, but they come together on the hip and are tied into an amazing flower like design.  
"Oh my gosh! Sal come here!" I say.  
"What is it?"  
"I've found one I like. Do you like it?" I ask, biting my lip.  
"I love! Can I try it on?" She replies.  
"Uh, duh." I grab her size off of the hanger and hand it to her. "Here, the changing rooms are this way. You coming mum?"  
"Wouldn't miss this for the world." She replies. So we all head to the changing room and Sal tries on the dress.  
"Oh my gosh!" She says, examining herself in the mirror.  
"Its perfect!" I say.   
"Well then we'll buy this one. Have you chosen one for your sister yet? And what'll your brother wear?" Alex asks.  
"I haven't got one for Lauren yet. She's a flower girl though, I don't want her in the same as Sal. Oh and, Markus' niece is the other flower girl, I want them to be matching. I'm thinking white dresses with a burgundy sash now. And James will wear his kilt. He knows that." I say.  
"Right. Well, at least we know what we're looking for now. Do you know the girls' sizes?" She asks.  
"Yeah, got it all written down." I reply. We head back to where we found Salomé's dress and, lo and behold, there's a matching dress but in white, with burgundy sashes round the centre.  
"Perfect!" I exclaim. So I pick up the right sizes and we head to the check outs. 

"I'm so glad thats all out of the way." I say.  
"Yep, we left that dangerously close." Salomé replies.  
"You're telling me. Oh, mum, you never bought anything!" I exclaim.  
"Don't worry, Liebling, I have it sorted." She replies, tapping her nose.  
"More spoilers? Really?" I say, laughing at her.  
"Naturally." She smiles. "So, Markus and his family are arriving tomorrow morning, then we head straight to the cathedral and rehearse. Then we'll check with the hotel that all is well for the reception. I think we're good." Alex says.  
"Yeah, I'm feeling remarkably relaxed." I announce.  
"Thats crazy." Sal says.  
"No actually, all is well, we've booked the hair and make up team, the flowers are due to arrive tomorrow night, I've already called and checked, they're ready, so they just need to be delivered to the hotel, I've cleared the dining table for them. The cake will be arriving tomorrow also, again, its been checked, and the hotel staff know to expect it. Then it'll be stored in the kitchen properly, but away from any cooking. Everything's running smoothly so far." She says.  
"Cool. Well, I'm heading to bed. Need my beauty sleep now more than ever." I say. Alex smiles.  
"Wise plan. Gute nacht, Liebling." She says, as I kiss her on the cheek.  
"Gute nacht, mami." I reply. "Night Sal."


	11. Wedding bells!!!!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hey! Massive chapter folks lol. I should warn you, the events outlined in the wedding speech my Amelia's adopted dad actually happened to me, lol, just they were so funny I never had to make stuff up, so enjoy a little chuckle knowing that I am actually that stupid. Enjoy!!

Theres a knock at the hotel door.  
"Markus sweetie? Will you answer that?" I say. He flew in with his niece, Margaret, and his parents this morning. The rest of his family also flew in this morning, but they're staying in different rooms all over the hotel and I haven't met any of them yet.  
"Of course." He gets up and answers the door. I can hear a muffled German conversation. Thats so weird, who do I know that speaks German, other than Alex, Sal and Markus.  
"Amelia!" Markus calls. "Get Alex!" Weird. Anyway, I get up, shout,   
"Okay!" and go through to Alex's room to get her. "Mama?" I say as. I go in.  
"Yes Liebling?"   
"Someone's at the door. I dunno who, Markus answered. Mind you, they seem to be German..." I say. Her and Sal exchange a cheeky smirk. "Am I missing something."  
"Spoi-lers!" Sal replies, dragging out the word sarcastically.  
"Okay so un-funny!" I reply laughing. Salomé and Alex head to the door.  
"Mutter! Father! Come in!" I hear.   
"Mutter? Father?" I mumble. Nonetheless, I smile widely to greet the two guests.  
"Mutter, Father, this is Amelia." Alex says. "Amelia, these are my parents." She adds.   
"Hello, its a pleasure to meet you." I say, shaking their hands.  
"My how you've grown." Her mother says.   
"She's inherited the Kingston weave!" Her father adds, making us all laugh.  
"Weave, mane... I don't think either do it justice." I say, laughing.  
"Agreed!" Alex replies.  
"So, nineteen years! My my!" Her mother says.  
"I know, its scary." Alex adds.  
"And engaged to be married." Her dad adds.  
"I am Margaretha." Her mother says. "And this is Anthony."  
"Hi." I repeat. "Um, I'll make tea." I say.  
"All right." Margaretha says. So I head over into the kitchen area and put the kettle on to boil. Alex starts taking her parent's to the living area. Sal starts a rapid conversation with her grandmother, in German. I don't have a clue what she's saying she's talking so fast.   
"Stop it." I hear from behind me. I jump, but just as I do, Markus slips his hands onto my hips and whispers in my ear. "You're not to be stressed." He says.  
"Oh but sweetie, I can't always help it." I reply, in hushed tones.  
"Well, we'll need to do something about that. Won't we?" He says. I turn around in his arms and thread my arms around his neck.  
"Sure we could, but what exactly have you got in mind?"  
"Lets see?" He says, dragging the words out so damn sexily. He presses his lips against my own and kisses me, his hands find the small of my back and presses me closer to him. To my horror, the kettle whistles and we break apart.  
"Thats the tea." I say.  
"I know." He steps away a little and leans against the fridge door while I finish making the tea and then he helps me carry the many mugs over to the living area and set them down on the coffee table.

The six of us proceed to spend the rest of the afternoon catching up. The flowers arrive and Alex arranges them along the dining table, later, the phone rings, its the hotel staff informing us the cake is ready and waiting. Soon after, the six of us trudge down to the reception hall to see the decorating. Its so beautiful! Everything is just falling into place.

That night, Margarethe and Anthony head into their room three doors down from ours. Salomé sleeps in her bedroom, Alex in hers, and I double up with Markus. He puts an arm around my waist, as usual, and I fall asleep, dreaming happy dreams. But, as per, the dream doesn't stay happy. It quickly turns rotten and I wake up with an awful start.  
"Amelia?" Markus mumbles sleepily as I slip out of the bed.  
"I just need a drink." I say.  
"Humpf." Is his reply. I slip out of the bedroom and head to the kitchen, putting a shaky hand up to my tear stained face.  
"Wow. Get a grip." I say to myself. But I shake my own head in response. "You're such an idiot!" I mumble, subconsciously heading for the cutlery drawer and pulling out a steak knife.  
"Ah! I don't think so. Put it back!" I hear Alex saying.  
"Mama!" I dissolve into sobs, drop the knife and slide onto the floor.  
"Oh Liebling!" She says and comes over to me. She scoops me up in her arms and manages to help me over to the couch.   
"I'm sorry! I'm sorry. I'm so sorry." I keep repeating.  
"Sh. Don't be sorry, its fine."  
"I don't even know what I was doing! I don't want to keep doing that! I really don't!" I say.  
"I know you don't, Liebling, I know." She says.  
"How did you even wake up? I didn't make any noise?" I question her.  
"I got up to get a drink. It was just good timing." She tells me.  
"Yeah, or mother's instincts." I reply, wiping my eyes again.  
"Yes, most likely that too." She smiles and gently sweeps a strand of hair out of my eye. "Come on you, we need to get some sleep. Big day tomorrow." She says, I nod.  
"Yeah I know."

*

"Come on Amelia! You need to get up!" Salomé says, shaking me awake.  
"Hey calm yourself, whats the rush...?" I mumble, still half asleep.  
"Oh I don't know, maybe you're wedding!" She shouts. That wakes me up. I shoot upwards till I'm literally bolt upright.  
"Oh my Jesus thats today!" I exclaim.  
"Uh, nuh duh." Salomé says sarcastically. I hit her with a cushion. "Hoy! You better watch yourself, I have no issues bruising the bride!" The two of us get up and leave the room, giggling uncontrollably.  
"Are you two ready?" Alex says.  
"Ready to go? Um no..." Sal replies.  
"No, ready to start getting ready. As in showered, teeth cleaned, hair brushed. That sort of thing." We shake our heads. "Well, you'd best get a move on then!" She says. So we do. Before I know whats happened, I'm being sat down by various make up artists and having my make up done. Markus is down the hall getting ready in Margaretha and Anthony's suite with them and his parents. Twenty minutes later, my make up is all done and I stand watching as they sort Salomé, Alex, Markus' niece and Lauren (who arrived ten minutes ago)'s make up. James is getting ready with his parents at their home in Rockingham. Once the make up is all done, the rest of them get into their dresses. They all look beautiful.   
"Amelia, you ready for this sweetie?" Alex asks me.  
"Yeah." I reply.  
"Come on then Liebling." She says, beckoning me towards her. So I follow her into the bedroom and she shuts the door.  
"Mama I'm nervous!" I squeak.  
"I know, but its all right! The only thing you and Markus need to think about today is how much you love one another, thats all. The rest will fall into place by itself. I promise you." She says as she unzips the bag and takes out the dress.   
"Danke mama." I say.  
"Gern gersehen, Liebling." She then helps me step into the dress and buttons me up at the back. She also lays out my shoes and steadies me as I step into them.   
"Mama, do I look pretty?" I ask, and look up at her. She's crying a bit.  
"You look stunning!" She says. I walk forwards and hug her.  
"Ich liebe Sie, Mama!" I say.  
"I love you too." She replies.  
"Can you do my hair?" I ask. She smiles.  
"Of course." So she sets to work putting all the right pins into all the right places, and then, expertly, adds the veil. "You look like a princess." She says.  
"Thank you Mum." I reply.  
"Right, shall we go show everyone?" She says. I nod my head.  
"Yes. I suppose we should." I reply.  
"Come on then." So we get up and she walks over and opens the bedroom door. I take her hand as I then walk out to the main area and listen to everyone there gasp in surprise. I'm then bombarded with everyone telling me how good I look and how I'm a beautiful bride and what not. Eventually, there's a knock at the door. Sal answers it and lets my adoptive parents and James into the room.  
"Mum, you look great!" I say.   
"So do you." She replies, giving me a quick hug.  
"Nice kilt James!"   
"Why thank you!" He replies.  
"Oh and you both match! Excellent!" I exclaim as I see Dad.   
"Yeah, thats kind of how it works."  
"Oh give over. Where are granny and grandpa?" I ask.  
"Checking into a room." James tells me.  
"Cool." Everyone gets themselves settled, enjoying lots of tea and biscuits before the cars arrive. When they do, all of my flower girls and paige boy head off in one with my adoptive mum, my gran and my grandpa. The second car takes markus, the majority of his family and Margaretha and Anthony. Then. Mum and Sal come over and take my hands.  
"Show time, Liebling." Mum says. So her, Sal, Dad and I head off in the last car.  
"Dad, just checking, you know that both you and Alex are walking me down the isle?" I say as we pass through Perth city.  
"Yes I know." He replies.  
"Okay. Good."  
"Relax Liebling." Alex says. I take a deep breath.  
"I don't know if I can!" I say.  
"You can Liebling."  
"Sister of mine, look at me." Sal says, so I turn to face her.  
"Vertrauen in sich selbst, und atmen." She says.  
"Ich werde versuchen." I reply.   
"Come on then girls, we're here." Alex says. The car pulls over and the driver gets out. He then comes over to our door and opens it. Sal gets out first then dad, then Alex, then me. I grip Alex's arm for dear life when I get out of the car. Dad takes my other arm in his own, In such a way that I can still hold the bouquet. Sal joins the line of flower girls at the back of the chapel. James is at the front of said line. The music starts and he starts walking, leading Markus's niece, Lauren, and Sal down the Isle at a steady pace. Once they reach the front, the music changes and its my turn. Alex gives my arm a squeeze.  
"Don't let me fall!" I breathe. I plaster on a smile, despite the tears that are spilling from my eyes, and the three of us make our way down the Isle. At the front, Markus is standing, beaming at me, though there's tears in his eyes too. I get to the front, kiss my dad on the cheek, turn to Alex and give her a hug.   
"You'll be fine." She breathes in my ear. I nod as I step away and turn to face my fiancé. I pretty much miss everything thats said until the vows because I'm too busy staring at Markus.   
"I believe you've prepared your own vows." The priest says. I have a mini heart attack but Markus nods. What?! We haven't done this! Oh my... Markus then turns to face everyone and says,  
"I'm afraid we don't have a lot of time so we're gonna have to do the quick version." Mum's losing it. I'm so not losing it! "Okay! Need a strip of cloth, about a foot long, anything will do!" He says. I'm starting to catch on now... "Never mind!" He says, ripping off his bow tie. "Amelia, take one end of this." I just nod. "Wrap it around your hand." He says. I'm trying so hard not to laugh uncontrollably.  
"What am I doing?" I say.  
"As you're told." He says. My heart is doing back flips.  
"Now, Steven, I need you to say 'I consent and Gladly give.'"   
"To what?" Dad asks, snickering.  
"Just say it." Markus says. Man his accent is making this hilarious!  
"I consent and gladly give." Dad replies.  
"Alex, I need you to say it too." He pauses. "Mother of the bride." I look around, Lauren and James are crying with laughter. So is my Gran.  
"I consent and Gladly give." She says.  
"So, Amelia, you're the woman who married me. And wife, I have a request. My world is falling apart, because you're not always there, and I can't stand it another day. I'm begging you, please, there isn't another way." He says. I'm crying right now.  
"Well then, you may kiss the bride." I say, reeling off mum's lines.  
"I'll make it a good one." He says.  
"You'd better." Next thing I know, Markus' lips crash against mine and we're kissing, and, the orchestra pipes up and plays the same music from the scene. I'm dying inside!  
"Oi!" Someone shouts from the back of the chapel. Markus and I break apart and I turn to face the back. My hands fly up to my mouth in shock. "Is it true that there's been a wedding and I've been missing it?" Matt smith shouts.  
"Yeah, not okay." Karen Gillan says.  
"Nope, really not okay." Arthur Darvill finishes.  
"Mum! You did this?!" I exclaim. She nods, grinning like the cheshire cat.   
"So, who's the lucky couple then?" Matt says. "Oh, you two! Oh how lovely." He then starts pointing around the room, looking for someone. "Ah! Salomé! Hello poppet!" He says.  
"Hey Matt."  
"So, have we been pronounced yet?" Matt says to me.  
"No we haven't actually." So I turn to the priest and plead with my eyes.  
"Gladly." He says. "I now pronounce you Man and Wife!" He shouts. Markus kisses me again. Then we slide the rings onto each others fingers. What a higgelty, piggelty wedding!  
"Mami!" I exclaim. She hugs me Immediately.   
"My baby's married!" She exclaims. "Congratulations!"   
"Thanks Mum!" Suddenly, the orchestra starts playing the eleventh doctor's theme song. And Markus takes my hand and we progress back up the isle and outside of the cathedral.   
"We're married!" I squeak.  
"I know!" Markus replies. I jump into his arms and he swings me around. "I love you." He replies.  
"I love you too!" At that moment, everyone starts coming out of the cathedral, cheering and congratulating and throwing confetti! I'm ecstatic! And, Matt Smith, Karen Gillan and Arthur Darvill are at my wedding! 

Once we're all sort of passed the "Oh my gosh They're Married!" craze, Alex, Sal, Lauren, James, My adoptive parents, Markus' parents, his niece, all of the grandparents, Markus and I all head to Kings Park for the wedding photos. That takes about an hour and then we head to the hotel where all the guests are waiting on us for the reception. I'm so excited! When we arrive, they're all in the bar. So, the entire bridal party, plus Markus, line up outside the reception hall. I then have to greet literally every guest (but so does the whole bridal party and Markus). Then we head on in for the meal. The meal is literally the best food in the world! Its amazing! Once thats finished, the speeches start. My Dad stands up with the mike.  
"Well, we've been planning this for literally your entire life!" He says. Everyone starts laughing. "No really, the trouble I've had choosing which embarrassing stories to tell! I mean there's just so many!" I flush Scarlet. "Right folks, I've decided to start with some classic Annie injuries." He begins, gaining even more laughter. "First off, on a family holiday in black pool, Annie became that one child who managed to find the only two inches of pole that wasn't padded, in a whole soft play apparatus, AND break her nose on it! That's just the starter. She managed, in her life time, to break her nose a further twice, one of these happenings occurred when she ran face first into a lamp-post." The whole room erupts in laughter, including myself. "And it only gets better from there. Annie managed to stick a chef knife an inch and a half into her own leg, simply from emptying the dish washer. The dog bumped into his cage behind her which made a loud noise and, having been in alone all day, she jumped out of her skin, and stabbed herself in the process. Because we all know, the best thing to do, when you're scared that a person has come into your home, is to stab yourself, rather than attempt to stab them. What about the time her sister made lunch in the oven, she then sat the hot oven tray on top of the oven and Annie picked it up with bare hands. Naturally, however, she proceeded to run around in circles shouting "ouch, its burning me!" More laughter. Some people, Alex for example, have tears in their eyes. "However, she doesn't just embarrass herself through idiotic Annie moments like these, oh no, she's a professional at entertaining. On a family holiday in France, Annie stumbled across another young girl, speaking to her mother in fluent French." He says. I face palm.  
"Oh no not this story!" I exclaim.  
"So, naturally, she sits down and begins rambling off in complete and utter gobble-de-gook! When my wife and I asked her what she was doing, she said, and I quote, "sh Dad, I'm talking to the girl." They all erupt in laughter again. "So, Markus, you'll never be bored. That is for sure. She'll keep you entertained, but keep an eye on her in the kitchen will you?" Dad says. The whole audience erupts again.   
"I will mr Callaghan." Markus replies. Next, to my complete surprise, Alex stands up and takes the mike.  
"Well sweetie, seeing as your other.. Father wasn't here to give you a speech, I'm taking over." She says. "First off, Ich liebe Sie, Liebling." She says, resulting in a wide array of confused expressions. "I've only had you back with me for a short time, but I think Salomé will agree when I say its been truly amazing. We have not had one dull moment since you re-entered our lives. You accepted us completely, flaws and all, and adapted well to the sudden revelation that I was your mother. I'm so, so proud of you Liebling!" She says. "Watching you with Markus when he stayed with us in LA was so amazing, you two share a beautiful bond. You're sister and I are so, so, so happy for you." She says, there's tears in her eyes.  
"Danke Mama!" I say through my tears. She comes over and gives me a quick hug. Next, Markus takes the mike.  
"Well, Amelia! Where do I start. First off, you should all know, Amelia and I met online. She wanted to learn German, so she signed up for my language exchange. I was also using that website to learn English. We started messaging, emailing, back and forth two years ago. And we fell in love. Not only that, as you've witnessed, she speaks fluent German and I speak fluent English. Its been a win win situation." That got a lot of laughs. "Amelia, my love, I am the happiest man on the planet. I want to spend the rest of my life with you and I fully intend to do so. You brightened my days with your emails and I fell in love with the thought of you. On my first journey to Australia, when you picked me up from the airport, my heart stopped at the sight of you and I fell so, so deeply in love with you. I will not take my eyes off of you for the rest of forever! Ich liebe dich zum Mond und zurück!" He says. I can hardly speak for tears, but I find the strength to reply from somewhere.  
"Und Ich liebe dich bis zum Ende des unniverse!" I say standing up and snogging my husband.  
"Well I believe I missed all of the festivities." Someone says. Alex visibly tenses up and she shoots up onto her feet, her chair making quite the noise as its legs scrape the wood. Salomé also gets up, but she rushes over to me and takes my hand.  
"What the hell do you think you're doing here?" Alex says.  
"Its my daughter's first wedding." He says.  
"Oy, just what the hell do you mean by first?" I shout, deliberately sounding a lot like Donna Noble.  
"Well, if you take after your mother..." He starts.  
"You complete Bastard!" I shout.  
"Get out!" Alex spits through gritted teeth. He snickers.  
"I am not here to pick a fight with you, Alexandra. I'm here to celebrate my daughter's marriage." He says, actually genuinely smiling at me. My heart pangs. But he is the enemy, I need to remember that.  
"Daughter? How can you even call me that after what you did?" I say, sounding exactly the same as mum, all bar the accent.  
"That was nearly twenty years ago." He replies.  
"Doesn't change what you did." I say.  
"No, but the circumstances definitely change."  
"I don't really give a shit what the circumstances were. What you did to mum was unforgivable." All of my guests look either astounded that Voldemort has showed up at my wedding, appalled, or confused as to what the hell we're arguing about.  
"I know that. But I would like to make peace with it all. So I wanted to ask you to dance." He says.  
"A father-daughter dance with the baby you abandoned! Oh thats good." Alex shouts. She throws down her napkin and walks around the table until she's right in front of him. "I'm sure I've told you to fuck off before, perhaps you weren't listening. Fuck off out of our lives!" She spits and then walks straight out of the reception hall. Salomé is still clutching my hand.  
"She never swears..." She whispers.  
"I know babe, listen, you go follow her. I'm pretty sure she needs you now more than I do." I tell her. She nods and lets go of my hand.  
"Okay. Be back in a jiffy." She says. I just nod and watch her run off to find Alex.  
"Right. You want to dance? Will that make you leave my mother alone?" I say.  
"Yes." He replies, genuinely.   
"Fine. But I'm dancing with my husband first. Then my dad. And then you, got it?" I say.  
"Yes."  
"All right, have a seat." I tell him. The DJ pipes up and Markus and I head out onto the dance floor. He plays The Proclaimers' "I wanna spend my life with you!" The two of us share the most amazing time, whispering I love you's in each other's ears. Speaking German to one another, our language that hardly anyone in the room can translate. Its magical. Next, the DJ puts on "I Was Blessed because I Was Loved By You!" By Celine Dion, and My dad joins me for the father-daughter dance. I also discovered my mum wasn't missing it, she had come back in with Sal about half way through the first dance. My dad tells me how proud he is of me and what not. When we finish dancing, Voldemort gets up for his turn. The music starts and he takes my hands. I feel sick when he touches me. I feel sick thinking about what he did to her, what that letter did to me, what this dance is doing to Alex. I feel sick knowing that he didn't just force her to give me up, he then cheated on her with a woman almost twenty years his junior. That he revels in all his glory twenty four, seven. That he's won again, here he is, dancing with me. I don't utter a word to him. When the music stops, I shoot backwards, away from him. I mutter a quick "Thanks." and then run straight over to mum.   
"Mama I'm sorry!" I exclaim as I get to her. She's been crying.  
"Liebling, its all right!" She says. "I told you I don't mind if you want to do things with him." She says.  
"No, its not like that, he said he'd leave you alone if I danced with him, so I did it, so he'll leave. I didn't want to!" I exclaim.  
"Oh sweetie! You never had to do that!" She says.  
"Oh yes I did." She takes my hand and we march back over to where he is.  
"Is that all?" I say.  
"Thats all." He replies.  
"Right then. Might see you on the streets of LA sometime." I say, raising my eyebrows towards the door.  
"Yeah." He replies. "Congratulations by the way." He shouts, as he walks out the door. I sigh a massive sigh of relief. Markus is by my side in an instant.  
"You all right?" He asks.  
"I'm fine." I reply. "Mum, what about you?" I ask.  
"I'm fine Liebling." She replies.  
"No you're not." I say, pulling her into a tight cuddle, which Sal joins in on. "I'm so sorry that happened." I say.  
"Me too mama." Salomé adds.  
"I'm all right girls." She says. We nod. In that moment, Matt Smith comes bounding over.   
"Alex are you all right?" He demands.  
"Yes Matt, I'm totally fine." She tells him.  
"Yes but..." He starts.  
"I'm fine." She says. "Listen, lets get this reception started hmmm?" She says.  
"Yeah good idea mum." I say. Next thing I know, I'm dancing with everyone, including team who! I can't believe it! And, completely unsurprisingly if you think about it, Matt dances exactly the same way he did as the Doctor, at Amy and Rory's wedding. Its hilarious. Both my families are having a ball, and, it appears I'm getting along with both of them. Thats a good sign. 

The day was truly magical. When I finally get back to the hotel with Markus, Mum and Sal, I'm surprised to find out that Mum booked us the bridal sweet for the night, so that we can spend our wedding night with each other. So we grab some things and we head up to the room and... Well... Spoilers!


	12. Filming

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Heyyyyy people!! I'm so sorry that it has taken me like 12 years to update this fic!! Uni and shit just got in the way! Love to anyone who has actually stuck with me on this!! And much love to all of the newcomers! Welcome aboard!! Xx
> 
> Before you read this chapter, I would like to reiterate that this is entirely fictional and completely made up for my own weirdness haha. Also, this is clearly not how tv people film anything, but, as I've never been on tv, therefore have no idea how they film stuff, this is just how I decided to write it xx
> 
> Enjoy xx

Walking out the arrivals gate at Lax in LA is literally the best feeling in the world.  
"Oh its so good to be back on American soil!" I exclaim.  
"Yes, it is." Alex says.  
"Yeah, a person can only take so many Kangaroos and beaches before they snap." Sal adds, sarcastically, and making us all laugh. We all pile into the car and head home.   
"I've missed this place." I say, as we get in the door.  
"Have you really?" Alex asks.  
"Yeah I really have." I reply. Markus then picks up my bags, as well as his own and carry's them all up to my room. "Thanks sweetie!" I call up after him.  
"No problem!" He replies.  
"Ugh, you two are so cute!" Salomé says.  
"I know." I reply.   
"And so modest!" Alex adds, laughing. "So, should we just order pizza tonight?" She says.  
"Oh yes!" Sal and I say, simultaneously.  
"You are scary when you do that." Markus proclaims as he rejoins us in the living room. We just shrug.  
"We're sisters!" Sal explains.  
"Oh and we know it." Alex adds.  
"We're on the news again." I say, after switching the tv on and finding our names plastered everywhere.  
"How?" Salomé asks.  
"Guess someone caught us in Oz." I reply. And sure enough, there's pictures of us everywhere. "Hey, there's even pictures of my wedding!" I turn up the volume.

"Yes, thats little Amelia Kingston married! And who should turn up at the wedding? None other than the Doctor himself." Says the first presenter.  
"And lets not forget,the companions." The chick next to him amends.  
"Too right. Matt Smith, Karen Gillan and Arthur Darvil all made an appearance at the Kingston family wedding. What a surprise." He says.

"Oh just turn it off. I can't even be bothered listening to it." I say.  
"Agreed." Alex says. Switching off the TV.   
"We'd better get you sorted Salomé. Your father will be here soon." She adds. I can see the beginnings of tears in her eyes. I know whats coming, and its making me sick to my stomach. The most awful atmosphere falls on the house for the next hour. Alex, Sal and I are devastated, Markus isn't sure how to be, so he heads to our room to skype his mother instead. I help them pack. Then the door bell rings.   
"Mama!" Sal says.  
"Sweetheart its fine. I'm here." Alex says, pulling a now sobbing Salomé into her arms. Alex puts on her strong face, again. I feel tears in my own eyes as I watch them saying goodbye. Markus has answered the door, so we take our time. Eventually, Alex lets go of Salomé and she turns to me.  
"Knock 'em dead sis." She says.  
"Hell yeah." I reply, attempting to feign confidence, but it doesn't work. She throws herself into my arms and I hug her gratefully.  
"Skype me."  
"Every day." I reply. I hold on to her for ages before finally letting go. She hugs Alex again quickly before we help her downstairs with her things. Then we watch and wave as Florian drives her away. And Alex dissolves.  
"Mama." I say taking her in my arms and hugging her for ages. She spent the whole time crying on my shoulder. "She'll be okay you know." I say.  
"I know Liebling." She pulls away and wipes her eyes. "I know."   
"Come on, I'll make you some tea." I say.  
"Already done. Its in the pot." Markus says from behind us.  
"Aw, thanks sweetie." I reply. "Come on Mum, lets have some tea." I say. She nods and follows me through to the kitchen. We had a cup of tea each between us before all three of us head up to bed. None of us bothered to unpack our cases from Australia, we're all up at five am for the flight to Britain anyway. So why bother?

"Amelia, Markus? Time to go." I hear. Theres also a soft knocking on the door. I sit up and get out of bed to answer it.   
"Mum? Is it that time already?" I ask.  
"It is."  
"Ugh, I feel like I never went to bed." I say, switching on the light. It takes a lot to wake Markus up.  
"I know the feeling. There's tea in the pot Liebling." She says, as she kisses my head and walks back over to her own room.  
"Thanks Mama." I reply. I turn around and head over to the bed. I have to say, Markus looks totally gorgeous when he sleeps. I lean down and kiss him softly.   
"Come on sweetie, wake up." I say, giving him a shake. He opens his eyes and smiles.   
"Guten Morgen." He says.   
"Hallo." I reply. "Come on mister, we gotta move." I say.

Before long, we've all eaten, showered, gotten dressed, grabbed the cases and piled into the taxi thats taking us to the airport.  
"Damn." I say.  
"Whats wrong?" Alex asks, immediately.  
"Well, I was so damn happy to be home, and now we're leaving again." I tell her.   
"I know the feeling. Oh well." She says. "We're going to have a blast on Who." She tells me.  
"Hell yeah we are." I reply.   
"I can't believe Moffat took the script back. I am paranoid I'm not gonna learn the lines in time." I say.  
"Oh sweetie, trust me, you'll learn them. I promise." She says.  
"And you're sure this isn't weird for you?" I say.  
"Amelia, we've been over this, of course it isn't weird, I'm so excited to work with you!" She says.  
"Okay Mama." I reply. "I can't wait to work with you either. But I have like zero experience compared to you. Actually, I have like zero experience compared with everyone." I say.   
"Amelia listen to me. Moffat didn't 'just hire you'. He watched you in Les Mis. He telephoned me to say you were a natural and almost begged me to let you work on Who. So trust me, you will be fine." She says.  
"Okay." I squeak. "Thanks Mama." I add, quietly.

 

*

The first few days of read through's go smoothly. I've even learned my lines! Its the fourth day today. I wake up to an alarm buzzing at four am. I groan.  
"Omg! I don't know how many more early mornings I can take!" I say, hitting my face with a pillow.  
"I know!" Markus says. "Especially with my wife stealing my pillow!" He says, laughing. He then proceeds to start tickling me mercilessly.   
"Okay! Okay! I'm sorry!" I gasp, laughing hysterically.  
"Thats better." He then kisses me passionately.  
"Now I prefer that greeting thank you very much." I say to him.  
"Amelia, are you awake?" Alex shouts through the door.  
"Yes mum! I'm just getting up right now. Can I shower?" I shout.  
"Yes sweetheart. This is Britain. Not Australia. Have as long as you like sweetie." She calls.  
"Okay, thanks Mummy." I reply. Thats the first I've called her "mummy" (in English at least). I hear the gasp, so I slip my house coat on and open my bedroom door. "Oh, now I never meant to make you cry!" I exclaim, skipping over to hug her.  
"No, no! Don't be silly its not your fault." She replies. I wrap my arms around her. "I love you Liebling, thats all." She says.  
"I know Mummy, I know." I reply. "And I love you so much too!" I add. I then let her go and kiss her cheek. "All good?" I ask.  
"All good." She confirms.  
"Okay." And with that, I head off to shower. Before long, Alex, Markus and Myself are all dressed and heading out the door to the studio. Its the first day of filming today and I'm so nervous and excited all at once!

"Hey little me!" Karen exclaims when she sees me.  
"Why hello big me! How are we today?" I reply hugging her quickly.  
"Excellent." She tells me. "Morning Daughter." She adds, referring to Alex.  
"Good morning Mother dear. Where is Father?" She asks.  
"Hair and make up with the son in law. I swear they spend more time in there than us!" She replies.  
"I think you may be right. Speaking of, we'd best get sorted!" Alex says.   
"Good plan. See you in a bit." Karen replies.  
"See you!" Alex and I chorus. Then, we say cheerio to Markus and Alex leads me away to costumes. Once our costumes are on, they put robes on us and we're whisked away to hair and make up. Before I know it, we're all standing together receiving directions from Moffat. I'm wearing a kick-ass costume. Seriously! Black skinny jeans, a white three-quarter length sleeved shirt with a totally drop dead gorgeous shape, and the buttons undone just far enough to reveal some cleavage, then they've shoved a belt around my waist with my props (aka weapons), and some freaking stunning boots! I love it! Mum's exactly the same although she has a blazer on top of her shirt. I listen to everything Moffat says with insane attention, then, before you can say Spoilers, we're moving off to start. Mum and I are up first! Eek!  
"All right, Alex you're starting here, Amelia, you're here. And we'll begin the first run through." Moffat says. "Okay, Scene one, take one! Action!" He shouts. 

Suddenly, mum's striding on ahead, so fast I'm almost running to keep up.  
"Are we nearly there?" I say.  
"Honestly Cass, you're ridiculously impatient. I won't know until I find it. Now hush and hurry up!" She hisses, moving through the jungle as though its nothing out of the ordinary. A moment passes and She stops dead in her tracts. 

"Cut!" Moffat shouts. I breathe, but its not over yet. "Matt, Karen, Arthur. Time to shine!" He adds. He then gives camera switching directions and shouts. "Okay, Act one, Scene two, take one! Action!"

"River!" The doctor exclaims. I dive into a near by bush as mum shifts her expression from shock to attempted seductiveness and says.  
"Hello sweetie."  
"River? How can we just bump into River?" Amy asks.  
"Yeah, especially the way we got here too." Rory adds, rubbing an achy neck.  
"Whatever do you mean 'the way you got here'?" River asks.  
"It was not my fault." The doctor says, his hands flying up defensively.  
"Oh no." Mum breathes. "Where is she?"   
"Just around this corner..." Replies the Doctor. I peep through the bushes as River runs off. The running Camera follows her around. The Doctor then cringes as she shouts,  
"DOCTOR!"   
"mWoops." He gulps and runs after her. I can't see their scene from where I'm sitting, in a freeze frame, in a fake bush. But I know River totally freaks about the Doctor hurting the Tardis, and they steam that the poor ship is emitting, etc etc. However, soon, my scene is resumed as the Doctor and River rejoin us.   
River storms back to   
"That man! Honestly." She huffs.   
"I told you it wasn't my fault!" The doctor shouts, much the same way as an angry child would.  
"Of course not."  
"Well, River, clearly I crash landed, but what are you doing here?" The Doctor asks, attracting Rory and Amy's attention.  
"I'm an archeologist, sweetie. I'm working. I certainly didn't expect to be fixing a Tardis." She replies, smirking. "Again." This time, Amy pipes up.  
"So who was that girl you were with?" She asks. River flails a little.  
"What girl?" She asks sweetly.  
"Oh come on River, don't cast us as fools. I do not appreciate being mocked." The doctor replies. "Who is this girl, over here, who dove into a bush the minute she saw us?" He asks as he stalks over to the bush I'm in. I cringe as he rips the leaves apart and puts me on full display. River sighs.   
"Uh, hi." I say.  
"Hello." Rory says, gaining him a dirty look from the doctor and an eyebrow raised 'are you serious?' expression from Amy. "What?" He says.  
"Its all right Cass, they've seen you, you can get up." River says, sighing. I stand up and walk over to her.  
"Mu-huh-ouch!" I exclaim as I go to call her mum and she slaps me. "River, what is happening right now?" I say, amending the situation.   
"I was just going to ask the same question." The doctor says. "But first, who are you."   
"I'm afraid thats classified." I say.   
"By who?" Amy asks.  
"God knows..." I reply.  
"Cass? What sort of name is Cass?" The doctor continues.  
"Its short for Cassidy. What sort of name is Doctor?" I retort.  
"Too-shay." Amy says.  
"Now I've told you, I don't appreciate being mock-" he starts, however he's cut off by a massive imaginary hovercraft thats right above our heads. "GET DOWN EVERYONE!" He shouts, and we all hit the floor.

"Cut! That was perfect! My gosh you're all working brilliantly today. Lets head straight into scene three." He says. And so we do. The scene pans out beautifully. Mind you, theres a couple of re-takes this time. But no one's annoyed. Yet. Anyway, we head straight into scene four happily.   
"Scene four, take one, Action!" Moffat shouts.

We're all struggling tremendously as we're dragged through the forest towards an unknown building by the... Creatures. Our hands are all bound. The creatures march straight up to the guards at the door and begin to converse.  
"What is thissss?" The guard asks.  
"Trespassssserssss. Masssster will need to deal with them." The one holding the Doctor says.  
"Very well. Have them in the East end." The guard says. We're then dragged through the door and down a hall, followed by the running camera's. The creatures then split us up, mum, Amy and I are thrown in one cell, the Doctor and Rory are thrown in the one next door to us. The doors are then shut and locked. Theres a little barred hole in the wall between the two cells, through which, we can still all converse.   
"Come here Cass, I'll untie you, and then you can sort Amy and I." River says.   
"Okay." I reply. So I do as I'm told and sort it out. The Doctor and Rory also untie one another.   
"Fabulous." River says. "These cells are literally weapons proof. My guns won't even get these doors to open." She shouts.  
"Nor will my screwdriver." The doctor replies. River then whips out her own screw driver and attempts to zap the door.  
"Nor my own." She adds.  
"Excellent." Amy says, exacerbated.   
"Don't mean to be cynical, but I really don't like the sound of this 'Master' guy." Rory says.  
"Nor do I." I reply. 

The scenes continue. There are more re-takes, some because Karen and Matt can't stop laughing, some because Moffat saw things that he wanted changed. Either way, my scene without Mum, Matt or Karen is coming up. The "Master" declared we were to be trained. I drew the short straw apparently as I was chosen first for the "training"  
"Action" I hear.

I find myself in the jungle again.  
"Back outside. Hmm." I say. "Brilliant, I can run." I whip the gun out of my belt and hold it ready as I begin to run. However, before I can get anywhere, my path is blocked by a wall of new aliens.  
"Excellent!" I vocalise loudly before starting to fight. I feel so baddass! I'm spinning around everywhere shooting them and dodging their blasts. Soon they're all dead. But even more appear.   
"Seriously guys." Although this time, they're not attacking. They're in some sort of formation, and dragging something behind them. They stop in front of me and separate to reveal its my mother they're dragging behind them.  
"River!" I shout. She's struggling. The shock of seeing her all bound up and dragged makes me forget what I'm doing for a second and I'm grabbed from behind. Then, to my complete shock horror, they shoot her! I scream! Like I really scream. Its agonising. I make a point to emphasise my pain in my voice. (Meriting silence in the studio). They don't even give me time to mourn her before they're dragging me back to the cell. I'm thrown in the door but I immediately get up to start banging on it.   
"Come back!" I'm screaming. "BRING HER BACK!" I shout, but I know its not possible. She was disintegrated in front of me.   
"Cassidy?" I hear Amy say, laying a hand on my shoulder.  
"Don't!" I shout. Shrugging her off.  
"What is it, what's happened?" She asks.  
"River." I choke out.  
"What about me?" I hear from behind. I whip 'round to face her, tears streaming my cheeks and jump out of my skin as. I see her. "Cass! What have they done?" She exclaims worriedly as she sees me.   
"You... You're alive?" I choke between sobs.  
"Well yes. Why on earth are you asking that?" She says.  
"They shot you in front of me! I watched it! They murdered you!" I shout.  
"No sweetie, I haven't left the cell..." She says. Then the doctor pipes up.   
"Excellent. They're using computerised simulations to mess with our heads. I mean, I'm guessing their computerised, they could be captive zygons, anyway, this should be fun." He says. Meanwhile, River's made her way over to me and taken my hands to help me up.  
"Are we good?" She says. I wipe my face.  
"Yes, we're good." I reply. 

In the next scene, Moffat rearranges the camera's and then its River's turn to be dragged off to "training" however, she's a tad more experienced than me, and manages to fight them off. Then there's a massive security breach as we all break out of our cells. All of these aliens come running, river and I are fighting them off as we run back out of the building and head towards the tardis.  
"Scene 10, take one, Action!" Moffat shouts.

Just before we manage to reach the tardis, one of the aliens grab me from behind, and is holding a sword at my throat, he's pushing it so hard its piercing my skin ever so slightly. 

The scene is then frozen and played a multitude of times to make it look like its cut my throat and there's blood oozing from the cut.

I can feel the blood on my throat and I know I'm not getting out of this one easily at all.  
"River!" I shout, or try to shout. It comes out as a rasping cry. She pivots round immediately and sharply. And then freaks out.  
"You movvve and thisss one isss dead." The alien hisses.   
"You let her go or so help me god I'll blast you're head straight off." River shouts in a voice that's filled with venom. He just pushes the sword in deeper. I gasp.  
"River please!" I shout.  
"Let her go!" She shouts again.   
"Ssshhhe will be ffffine ifffff you obey ussss." It hisses, this time River loses it.   
"LET MY DAUGHTER GO!" She screams, choosing to risk it by whipping her gun up in an instant and repeatedly shooting it in the head. It dies, obviously, and falls, however, the sword falls too, slicing a perfect line around my neck.

Which involved stopping and starting yet another multitude of times.

"Thanks." I say, getting up. My hand flies up to my neck to examine the damage. "Well it could be worse." I say.  
"You nearly lost your head!" River shouts.  
"I know. Calm down, I'm fine." She nods. So the two of us turn around and walk over to the rest of them. However, they're all standing, glaring at us, arms folded. Oh no.  
"Ahem." The doctor says, clearing his throat. "Daughter?" He questions.  
"Um..." River says. "Yes. This is Cassidy, my daughter."  
"Hi." I say, smiling. I earn glares from them for that.  
"We have a grandchild?" Amy says.  
"Great. In our twenties, we have a grown daughter, and now a grandchild. How can that not be weird?" Rory says. I smile, it is rather funny.  
"Would everyone just shut up!" The doctor shouts, Spinning on the spot and marching into the tardis. So we all shut up and follow him.

"Excellent. Moving swiftly onto the next scene please." So we all squeeze out of the box and head over to the tardis set. My first time on the tardis!  
"Scene eleven, take one, Action!" Moffat shouts.

The doctor sighs angrily.   
"River! How could you not tell me you had a daughter." He says.  
"I..." She starts.   
"Oh for goodness sake! She was protecting me!" I shout. Currently holding my hand to my neck in a vain attempt to stem the bleed.  
"Cassidy!" River hisses.  
"No! I'm sick of this. There's not much they could do with me now mum. I'm telling him!" I shout.  
"Telling me what?" The doctor says.  
"Not much who could do to you?" Amy adds.  
"Kovarian!" I shout. "Seriously guys! Another Tardis child? Dear madam Kovarian, seeing as we all know the first one went horribly wrong, I mean, she never murdered him, she married him, we decided to do the completely insane and provide you with a second chance. Yours sincerely, the Doctor and River. I mean come on! She would go nuts!" I shout, totally exacerbated by it all.  
"Tardis child?" Amy says. "You mean?"   
"Yes."  
"I'm her Father?" The doctor squeaks.  
"Of course! How dare you accuse me of anything otherwise!" River shouts, and storms out of the console room.  
"Good one!" I say, following her. 

The others finish the scene upstairs and then the camera follows the doctor to river and I down beneath them.

"River?" The doctor says. "I'm sorry."   
"You'd better be." She says. "How could you even think...?" She says, and then just stops, shakes her head and wipes her eyes rather than finishing the sentence.  
"I don't know, I'm sorry." I opt to leave them to it and head back upstairs. 

So the Doctor and River finish making up and we move onto the next scene. 

The Doctor and River then join us back in the console room. Amy is no where to be seen.  
"Right, lets get her back into a safe zone." River says.  
"I can do that you know."  
"Oh yeah, sure sweetie." She replies as she continues to fly the Tardis for him. Before long, we're up in space, just drifting. But safely.   
"Uh, Mum?" I say.  
"Yes sweetie?" She replies.  
"Where's Amy?" I ask.  
"Good point. Doctor, where did she go?"  
"Rory?" The doctor questions.  
"Don't look at me! This time, I don't know."  
"Right, I'll go and look for her." River says, heading up the stairs and out of the console room.

The next scene involves Amy getting annoyed at River for not telling her about me. Something about River not trusting her. Anyway, the fight is resolved and everybody becomes all buddy buddy again in the console room. The episode then ends with the Doctor declaring to take us all for a picnic on mars.  
"Thats a wrap everybody!" Moffat shouts. "Well done!" He says. Then I rush over to mum.  
"That was wicked!" I exclaim.  
"You did excellently." She says.  
"Yeah, something must run in your family because that was genuinely brilliant." Amy says.  
"High five me daughter!" Matt says. So I give him a massive high five.  
"Right, once we're all out of costumes and sorted, lets head out for dinner. I'm famished." Karen says.  
"Amen." I reply.  
"Sounds good to me." Alex says.  
"I'm in." Arthur adds.  
"Me too." Matt finishes. So we all head off to get sorted and meet back out in the main area, where we're joined by Markus, before heading out to dinner. We choose to eat at TGI Friday's. We're seated quickly in a more private area and then treated like royalty.  
"I still can't get over you being married!" Karen says.  
"I know! You're nineteen!" Matt adds.  
"Yeah well, we were so ready for it! Right Markus."  
"Hell yeah." He replies, copying my favourite phrase, his accent making him sound hilarious.   
"Yeah. But we're in our late twenties and not even close!" Karen says.  
"Speak for yourself..." Matt mumbles.  
"Spill!" We all shout.   
"Okay but it is a complete secret!" He says.  
"Okay!"  
"Well, Lily and I have been together for ages now. So, I've uh, I've bought a ring." He says.   
"Aww!" I hear Karen say.  
"Good on you mate!" Darvill adds.  
"Well congratulations." Alex tells him, smiling sweetly.  
"I'm so happy for you guys!" I say. Soon, the meal comes, and we're totally inhaling it. Everyone's excitedly discussing the show at the same time and its brilliant.  
"You know, I'm kind of proud of Moffat." I say.  
"How so?" Karen asks.  
"He doesn't ever reveal things straight away. Especially things that involve River. And he revealed who my character was in the first episode." I explain. Realisation appears on their faces.  
"I never thought of that!" Matt says.  
"Why's he changed so drastically?" Karen adds.  
"Oh there'll be a reason for it." Alex says.  
"Yeah, well, there always is." Arthur adds.  
"Yup." I finish. In the end, we finish our meals and our drinks and head back to our hotel. We're all staying on the same floor in the same hotel. Its brilliant!   
"Thanks for everything guys." I say as we exit the elevator onto our floor.   
"No problem." Matt says.  
"Are you guys coming over for drinks?" Karen asks. Alex nearly rolls her eyes.  
"Really Karen?" Arthur says.  
"Come on! The night is still young you know!" Karen wails.  
"I know, but we're all up early." Matt says.  
"And since when has that ever stopped us?" She says. "Little me?" She says, pouting. Great, she chose to put me on the spot.   
"Dammit, how come I'm the weakest link!" I say.  
"Because you are. Now are you coming. I have tequilla!" She says.  
"Mother?" I ask.  
"You can go if you like dear." Alex says.  
"Markus?" I ask.  
"I'm in." He replies.  
"Okay, we'll come." I say, smiling. "But the boys have to as well." I say.  
"Oh for goodness sakes all right!" Matt says.  
"Mum are you coming?" I ask.  
"I suppose I'd better." She replies. So thats that, we all head into Karens room for drinks. Five shots of Tequila later and I can't even string a sentence.   
"Come on you, lets get home." Alex says, having Markus help me get up.  
"But mummy, its fun!" I squeal.  
"Yes daughter, little me is right! We're all having fun!" Karen wails.  
"Yep, but we have work in the morning Karen. Come on, upsidaisies. You're going to bed too." Matt says to her. In the end, the boys man handle Karen into bed and Alex and Markus man handle me to bed. That went very well.

 

The next couple of weeks of filming go extremely well. Got a few episodes done. Two of which have been on TV already. I'm only in four episodes so far. Then the next few I'm not. And then I'm back in. I'll appreciate the break though. We're heading to a comic con today. I've never been to a con in my life, like not even as a fan, let alone as the main attraction. I'm nervous and excited all in one. Its question and answer and photo's and autographs. I've never signed an Autograph in my life!   
"Amelia are you ready?" Alex shouts to me.  
"Ja Mama, ich komme." I shout.   
"O.k." She replies. So we head on out. Mum and I look really alike today. Just every now and then, theres days where we look ten times more alike than the other days. Its scary. And that day is today. We all pile into the limo out front, so thats all of team who plus Markus, and the driver takes us to the con. Not gonna lie, Karen and I may be a bit typsy from limo champagne. This should be interesting. When we arrive at the con, we're taken down a red carpet set up, through loads of screaming fans, through to the actual hall. We're then led into a room off of the side of the stage which has food and some refreshments. Where Karen and I share another glass of champagne each. Eventually, we're called onto the stage. The fans are going mad! I find myself seated between Alex and Kaz, then matt and Arthur are after Kaz. About ten minutes later, the host actually manages to calm the fans.   
"All right! Hello everyone! Welcome to the Doctor Who convention of 2015!" He shouts. But they just start screaming again. Counter productive if you ask me.  
"Anyway, here on our panel today, we've got Matt Smith, Karen Gillan, Arthur Darvil, alex Kingston, and the surprise new star, Amelia Kingston everyone!" He shouts. The crappy quality of the mike becoming abundantly clear. Once the clapping stops, he starts talking again.  
"Okay, here's how today is gonna work. If you have a question, line up here." He says. "I think we'll just dive straight in. Yeah, start lining up. Go for it." He says. So suddenly theres a bit of chaos, but eventually, we start.  
"Hi, my name is Emily. My question is actually for Alex." She says. "Okay, so I just wanna know, can we expect to see a lot of you in this season. Like, characteristically, River comes and goes, but with the new addition of her daughter, will she be on more often?" The girl says.  
"Oh, thats a difficult one." Alex says. "I can't really give anything away. Um, you can definitely expect to see River, but wether or not she'll be seen more, I can't really say. And to be perfectly honest, I don't know myself. Sorry." She finishes.  
"Cool. Okay. Thank you." The girl says, cheerily, heading back to her seat.   
"Hi, my names Cal, I want to ask the doctor, have you ever really wound up the prop team by constantly breaking things or anything like that?" He asks.  
"Oh yes." Matt says.  
"Like really, really often." Karen adds.  
"Okay thanks Karen." Matt says sarcastically, making everyone laugh. "I've annoyed the props team immensely. I'm always tripping and breaking things, I have gone through a multitude of screwdrivers. That episode with clara in the fields of trenselore, when the console room explodes, they kept telling us 'now whatever you do, don't swing on the bars.' And its the first thing I did. So yes. I annoy them all the time." He explains, making the whole room laugh.  
"Cool." The boy says, and heads back.  
"Hi my name's Cassandra. I wanted to ask Amelia, what's it like working with your mum?" She asks.  
"Yay I got an easy one!" I exclaim, making every one laugh. "I love working with my mum. I think anyone would. And the fact that my character plays river's daughter as well, its special." I say. "Makes it a lot easier as well. Like support wise." I add.  
"Aww." The girl says.   
"Yes, well, its excellent having you around me all the time Amelia." Alex adds, giving me a quick kiss on the head. Everyone cheers.  
"Oh thats so adorable!" The girl says. "So then my next question is, you've got a university degree for nursing right?" She asks me.  
"Yeah, I do. I graduated the university of Notre Dame Australia as a Registered Nurse a short while ago."   
"Don't you feel sad you're not using your degree?" She says.  
"Well. Thats a bit difficult to answer sweetie. Um, I don't feel sad because I haven't really thought about it. The degree is there. If and when I want to use it, its available. I'd simply have to sit the state exams in whichever country I've chosen to practice in. So yeah." I reply.   
"Okay, sweet! Thanks loads." She says, and heads back to her seat.   
"No bother." I reply. The next kid comes up.  
"I've got two questions now. First, Matt, I wondered if you might give us any insight as to how you feel about the new console room?" The boy says.  
"Um, well I like it. I like it a lot!" Matt says. "Its difficult at the moment, getting used to the new tardis, but it'll get just as easy as the past one I expect, yeah no I like it." He says.  
"Cool, so then my next question is does Moffat have some freaky plan for Cassidy? Like he's not going to turn around and kill her off immediately or anything is he?"  
"We can't say." I say.  
"Spoilers." Mum adds. The whole audience erupts. Like I'm not kidding. They're screaming. Really screaming. A lot. Mum laughs a bit.   
"Okay. Thanks!" The kid says, turning around.  
"Hi there, my name's Mia. I just wanted to ask Amelia, is your hair naturally like that? Because I know that your sister has curls but they're not like, well, that. So I was wondering if yours does that naturally or if you styled it?" She asks. I laugh a bit.  
"Aha no sweetie. This is actually au natural." I say. "Like I literally woke up like this." I add, making everyone in the room laugh again.   
"Wow. Its actually amazing." The girl says.   
"Thank you." I reply. "Kingston thing." I add, making everyone laugh again.  
"Thats wicked. Thank you." So she heads back to her seat. The question and answer panel almost becomes an interrogation. I'm actually so happy mum is here to regulate it. One fan comes up and says.  
"So everyone know's you married your husband a couple of months ago. Will the show prevent you from having a child?" I am gobsmacked. Luckily the team saves the day.  
"We aren't comfortable releasing personal information." Karen says.  
"No we'd appreciate it if you keep your questions Doctor who orientated." Matt adds.   
"Sorry, Its just we'd prefer to keep our lives as private as possible." Alex says.  
"Okay, no worries." The fan replies. The whole panel event takes up two hours, then we move on to the signing. Mum said not to sign my whole name. Like I'm literally signing "A Kingston". But in cursive, to make it look nice. This should be fun. 

It ended up being a really great day. The signing went exceptionally well. Then we took a lunch break. I ate lunch with my amazing husband in the back stage room with the rest of team who. Then we had the photo's. I've never hugged so many people in my life! Oh well. The group photo's were the best. Mum and I got some amazing pictures. Pity there's strangers in them. Oh well. Not last year I was desperate to be one of the strangers in those photos. So oh well. The first episode I filmed is going on TV tonight. I'm not watching it, I'd just nitpick at it. We're sitting in the apartment with matt and Karen, Arthur's gone to pick up dinner with Markus, when the phone rings.   
"I'll get it mama, finish your tea." I say, as Alex goes to get up. She smiles at me.  
"Vielen danke, liebling." She replies.   
"Gern gersehen." I say, in return, as I make my way over to the phone and answer it. "Hello who's speaking please?" I say into it, the greeting that my adoptive mother taught me to use when answering the phone.  
"Well its nice to know you haven't completely abandoned your upbringing Aimee." My gran says.  
"Granny!" I squeak.   
"Hello precious, how are you?" She asks.  
"I'm good gran. How are you?" I ask.   
"I'm extremely proud of my girl." She replies.  
"How so granny?"   
"I just finished watching doctor who. I always knew you were a drama queen!" She tells me, laughing.   
"Thanks granny. So you enjoyed it then?" I ask.  
"I loved it precious girl." She says.  
"So your not too upset I'm not nursing straight away?" I ask, quietly.   
"No of course not, you've your whole life ahead of you to use your career. You go ahead and and use your time to make you happy. And that'll make me happy." She replies.  
"Well I'm happy granny. How's Grandpa?" I ask.  
"He's fine. He's out with the dogs at the minute." She replies.  
"Cool. How's the family getting on then?"  
"You're mum and dad and brother and sister? They're all good." She says.   
"Okay. Well granny I'd best get on, having drinks with the team at the moment. Love you." I say.  
"Love you too precious. Take care, god bless." She says. I blow a kiss and then hang up.  
"Was that your grandmother?" Alex asks.  
"Yes." I say. "She was asking for you." I add, I know its a lie, but mum doesn't need to know that.  
"That was nice." I smile as Karen tops up my wine.  
"This has been such a perfect month. A toast, to the show and its new member, and to a good year." Says Karen, obviously very drunk.  
"I'll drink to that." I say as we all raise our glasses.  
"Cheers." We all chorus.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope this was worth the wait! Updates to follow!! Xx
> 
> Prompts, advice and questions welcome ! Love to all xx


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